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BATS and the Netherworld
The nocturnal habits of bats have no doubt contributed to the many myths that bats are creatures of another, unearthly world . . .
BATS IN FOLKLORE—
part four in a series about bats in North American and European folklore—

by Gary F. McCracken

Since antiquity, people have perceived many of the physical features of bats as strangely similar to those of humans. The great 18th century taxonomist Linnaeus noted that, among mammals, only humans, other primates, elephants, and bats possess a pair of breast nipples for suckling their young, a feature that led Linnaeus to place bats near humans in his classification. But the pointed ears of bats, their sharp teeth, leaf noses, wart-like protuberances on their chins, and their leathery wings supported by the same bones that are in the arms and hands of humans, have long led the superstitious to imagine that bats are merely a grotesque parody of the human form.

The persistent association of bats with the supernatural and the idea that they inhabit a world related to, but beyond, our existence undoubtedly also derives from the habits of bats. Bats are active at night while people sleep, and many bats spend their days in caves, abandoned buildings, church steeples, and tombs.

The layperson or novice bat biologist might even imagine that there are examples where scientists have fallen victim to the association of bats with the netherworld. The species name of the common North American little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus), might connote an association with Lucifer, the fallen Archangel. That was not, however, the intent of "lucifugus," which has the less forbidding translation of "light fleeing." (It is interesting to note that "lucifer" means "light bringing," and that prior to his fall from grace, Lucifer was the most beautiful of the Archangels.) Then there is the Neotropical fruit bat, Vampyrops helleri. Despite appearances, this bat was not named for the abode of the damned, but in tribute to Florian Heller, a biologist.


Sahahria edit: please add links to information that is cut and pasted from another site.

What's the question?

This is a good read, But what i would like to know is what you wanted from posting this? Was there a question or a point to be made? If there is a point or a question please state so. This could turn into a very interesting discussion if you elaborated a tad more. =]

What I wanted to know was Do you feel Bats are competive to Vampires, and Feed the same way ,? I was wondering how assoicated they are with our kind?

Are you talking myth, or reality? Legend and lore has much information of the superstitions.

Please clarify your question or this thread will be closed.

Realitly not myth or legand,
I think Bats are very interesting and are a part of vampyerism But I could be wrong and there are so many different things about bats

In reality then you are severely limiting the potential of discussion as most of the article you posted also gives reference to myth.

The reality is that the idea of the vampire as we know it comes from the myth of shape shifters and the idea that they turn into Bats. We know that earlier tales of Vampires are that they are spirits that refuse to die that feed off their family to prevent their soul from dying.

The idea of the "modern" vampire and those in the culture is only decades old. Prior to this, it was not the romantic ideals that motivated vampires; it was the sinister or evil spirits.

So I would reconsider your answer as the last portion of that article was in reference to how myth and science may have shaped the names of the bat.

What about the mythology part of the artical, ? Are bats a myth ? How in mythology can you prove the fact that bats feed different from vampires?

First off i have to interject here and say bats were here way longer then vampires so in my eyes i'd have to say the vampire is the myth/lore..Vampires feed as bats did .The vampires took their feeding techniques from the bats,Animals in general have been on this earth way longer then even the first strain of human being .alive or dead or undead. =] Just my thoughts on the topic.

I do not think this needs to go off topic. I was referencing this part of the article The species name of the common North American little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus), might connote an association with Lucifer, the fallen Archangel. That was not, however, the intent of "lucifugus," which has the less forbidding translation of "light fleeing." If you do not wish to include myth my suggestion is to use a different article for the discussion- but that is just my opinion.

Bytchofdarkness depending on the region of the lore you are correct. But we also have to remember that in areas that do not have bats- these creatures while undisputedly real by today's standard, were in fact "fantastical" to the average person.

Bats were a mystery too the church scientist, they didn’t know how they flew in the dark.
They played a game of elimination by taking away the senses one at a time.
They even covered it in grease to see if it was it’s skin that made it see in the dark……

In world war one a secret weapon was made from them… little fire bombs placed on them and let out of high flying bombers, project X ray. They were meant to hide in japans industrial buildings and at dawn the timers would go off and big fires would start…. Only problem was they didn’t come out of hibernation and fell to there death…. Lucky realy they could of burned in the morning…

People have always been fascinated with bats I think especially due to thier connection with the vampiric culture. They really are interesting creatures.

Well, technically they do 'sort of' feed the same way, although bats don't take nearly as much as 'vampires'. But this was indeed an interesting article.

bats have been here for a long time and will be here when we have passed they adapt very well to thier surroundings

Bats have been mysterious throughout history... the vampire bat feeding on blood helped to add to its mythic/superstitious part with the legend of vampires.

As was stated, how bats could fly in the dark and their abilities with 'radar' and such. Bats are very intelligent creatures.

hmm bats to me are mice with wings and really are not that "mysterious"

not all bats drink blood either

I've stood next to a gothic cathedral in France with them swooping round me in the twilight and it was nice rather than creepy lol

seeing as Animals were here first, I believe that vampires learned from the vampire bat.

fyi. There are lots of different kinds of bat... The fruit bat doesn't drink blood at all. It's an herbivore.

In myth, vampires were said to be able to morph into bats at will. And that's what it is...myth.

In reality, I don't think they have anything to link them except similar qualities.

I my opinion only we have thousands of different types of bats and they all have different habitates for the fruit bat eats fruit and the brown bat eats bugs and mositoes and vampire bats eat blood from scabs off of cattle ,but all this aside vampire in myth were said they can change into anything at will but that therory is only in myth it has never been proven so to say that vampire and bats are in the same catagory is still to me a mystery in itself and in reality it can not happen people can live the vampire lifestyle but they can not morph into a bat ...

I honestly believe people look for certain qualities in things, including animals, to try to connect them to something more then they are