My Year of Darwin (2/16/2014)

"The Vampire bat is often the cause of much trouble, by biting the horses on their withers." Charles Darwin - Voyage of the Beagle

The horses that Darwin and company would use would often be bitten by vampire bats but they were not observed in the act, which made those in England doubt Darwin's stories. But in Chile, a bat was captured on a horse. The bats were not causing serious problems but would cause local inflammation that would heal in a few days.

Vampire bats feed by licking the site first. Their saliva has an anesthetic so the animal doesn't feel their teeth making a small incision. Their saliva also has an anticoagulant and keeps the blood flowing freely as the bat laps it up with their tongue. 

While sleeping in a apartment on the fourth floor of an apartment complex in Manaus, Brazil, I had a bat running up my leg while I sleeping on the floor. Without looking I though it was just a cockroach and the bat kept returning. I finally flicked on a light and there it was running on the ground. I scooped it on a pillow on flicked it out the window. It was either sick or overfed and it just fell to the ground. I didn't see any cuts on me so I assume it wasn't bit and the bat was just weak. Sorry, I just couldn't make a donation. However, a few weeks later, I was up late reading a paper in a house near the Amazon. Windows were wide open. Just out of "nervous" behavior I started tapping my foot and I noticed that it was in a liquid. So I looked and I was bleeding profusely out of a ~ 1 cm cut on my ankle. The occupants of the house informed me that it was likely a vampire bat. So, I've been bitten by a vampire. I washed it out and nearly 20 years later I feel no effects and I don't like the taste of blood.