Vampires are the stuff of legend, but blood-sucking creatures are a real part of nature
Everybody has heard of the vampire bat. Bats are the animal most commonly associated with vampires, although the belief that a vampire can turn itself into one of the furry flying creatures is of relatively new vintage. It’s a natural association. Bats only come out at night, they fly, and at least one species drinks blood. I knew about leeches, too. Slimy, slug-like worms, some species of which will attach themselves to the body of a host and suck that animal’s blood—and sometimes the “animal” in question is human. The bite of the leech is painless, as it exudes its own natural anesthetic, and it vomits a coagulating chemical into its “donor.” It can even bite through the thick skin of an elephant!
Ticks suck blood, too. And who doesn’t know about that universal nuisance and threat to public health, the mosquito? But I admit I had never heard of the Candiru, or if I had I’d forgotten it. But I’m certain I’d never heard of the Vampire Finches of the Galapagos Islands! You’d think if you were talking about a feathered vampire, it would look like a sulking raven, or maybe a vulture. But a FINCH? That’s just funny.
