The bat flew to a nearby cave, but each evening it emerged at sunset, telling Jesus that it was time to take food [see Bats and the Netherworld, BATS, Summer 1993; also, see this same article for the converse notion that the devil created bats.). In fact they are mammals of the scientific order Chiroptera, meaning hand wing in ancient Greek, because their forelimbs have become adapted to be wings. People sometimes think of them as blind, bloodthirsty flying mice. In Western Europe, there existed an unfounded superstition that if a bat fell on a woman (who mostly had long hair back then), the bat would become so entangled in her hair that the hair would have to be cut off just to pull it out. It tells how a bushrat named Oyot was friends with Emiong the bat and they would often eat together, taking it in turns to cook. Our CFC number is 12064. One Yupa man in northern Colombia started night after night to drink and flirt with a female bat when he was returning from an evening hunt. Nevertheless, it is still a strongly sinister characteristic linking them closely to vampirism. In many places, blood sacrifice was believed to benefit agriculture, and therefore, bats had agricultural, as well as death, connections for Pre-Columbian peoples and in Oaxaca, Mexico, a bat deity was associated with maize [51]. Samoan people prize flying fox meat as a delicacy and as a gift to elders, but commercial hunting and export of the meat are culturally frowned. It is estimated that the current population of most Australian species of Pteropidae is less than 20% of what it was 100 years ago. Just over one-third of the respondents (36%) did not see any benefits of bats to humans. Besides the above, hunting of fruit bats in the Indo-Pacific area is also supported by a market in Guamartificially maintained by the higher per capita income on Guam than on the source islands. Bats were also persecuted because they were believed to be carriers of disease. Here are some of them: Flying foxes eat fruit, and this has inevitably brought them into conflict with humans, who grow fruit. Between the years 1950 and 2007, only 56 cases of bat-borne rabies transmission to humans occurred in the United States and Canada, which translates to 3.9 cases per billion person-years [65]. With Gods permission, He fashioned the winged likeness of a bat from clay and breathed life into it. To date, ethnobiological information regarding bats in Africa has mainly focused on utilitarian aspects of bats as food and medicine, whereas knowledge concerning symbolism and beliefs surrounding bats in that continent has not been assembled, apart from ancient Africa [18], Ghana [19, 20], Kenya [21], and Madagascar [22]. Men hunt and consume bats more often than women who have fears that consuming bat meat would give them strange or deformed children. There is also, of course, the European connection with bats to vampirism. They often live and breed in dark and unusual places such as caves, tunnels and lofts, leaving these at twilight the time between light and darkness in search of food. On the other hand, the body fat of Indian Flying Fox is used to make massage oil to cure rheumatic pains, while drinking water from a bats wing is said to sharpen ones memory [30]. In Europe, there are also myths about bats in the house. They also don't share behavior with rodents. Even worse have been the vandalism and wanton destruction of bats and their habitat in North America. A bat was once known as a flittermouse or fluttermouse, which translates to flying mouse. This phrase is derived from the German word for a bat, Fledermaus. The English term bat is taken from the Old English word bakke, which means to flutter.. Ammit (from Egyptian Mythology) Ominously translating to devourer or soul eater, the Ammit (also known as Ammut) was an underworld-dwelling ancient Egyptian goddess/demon who personified divine retribution. Today, we know that this is not the case, but the association of bats with longevity persists in some parts of the world. An idea that reflected their ability to fly around so quickly in the dark without hitting anything. It is a carnivore, eating birds and other vertebrates, occasionally taking even other species of bats. They have wings and fly like birds (actually, in many ways better than birds). In Africa, house bats occur in distinct colors and sizes, but they are usually hard to identify. Because of the mouses pious respect for the holy wafer, God gave it wings so that it would be able to find plenty of food in the future. Courtesy of creative commonsWikimedia. considers bat as harm meaning that it is forbidden as food. Although they live near humans and are common, it appears that some of the species have not been described and given scientific names [17]. They fly at night and so do witches, hence in Western Europe, witches and bats must be associated together. Do you know the difference between fact and fiction when it comes to bats? Aesops Fables: The Bat and the Weasel. Although vampire bats have been known to attack humans and large animals it is usually not fatal, though it has been known to transmit rabies. One of the most enduring old wives tales from Europe is that bats will get tangled in womens hair and would have to be removed with a pair of scissors. When capturing its prey, it grabs the neck, sometimes killing the prey with a single powerful bite [51, 52]. In northern Thailand, harming bats incurs a curse because bats are sacred for Buddhists [36]. As you can see, bats have been both persecuted and protected through the ages. Their prayers were answered, but only in part; they were given teeth, hair, and human faces, but otherwise remained bird-like. Bats lead us to the best opportunities to protect nature anywhere in the world. It was from these traditions that the vampire bats were named rather than them giving their name to the supernatural, blood-sucking creature. Which is why bats have such short faces, apparently. In the past, people have believed that: If a bat got into your house it was a sign someone was about to die; A bat arriving on Halloween meant your house was haunted; A bat tangled in a persons hair will lead to eternal damnation; These are Under the influence! In northern Argentina, a Toba story tells of the leader of the very first peoplea hero bat or batman who was teaching people all they needed to know as human beings. There are also numerous stories and legends associated with the bat. Whereas in China, it was a sign of good fortune. - In 1796, John Stedman wrote of being bitten by a vampire in Guiana, describing it as a bat of monstrous size, that sucks the blood from men and cattle when they are fast asleep, even sometimes till they die. [14]. In several other folktales, bats are banished into the night either as a result of some treachery or, as in the case of the Kanarese, because of embarrassment resulting from ill-advised behavior. When his wife returned she saw the pot was still boiling and no sign of her husband. Despite positive associations toward bats, they are widely consumed as food and medicine throughout Asia, except in Brunei and Singapore. Here, we review documented narratives and surveys from around the world and our ethnographic observations from Europe to analyze beliefs associated with bats. The higher level of education was not always reflected in the positive attitudes toward environment and wildlife issues. Flying foxesalong with all other native batsare now protected in Australia. No content from this site may be used elsewhere without the permission of either #FolkloreThursday or the article The first sighting was reported in 1928 by Thodore Monod. However, the association of bats with evil still persists in some parts of the world. In Makira, Solomon Islands, local people value traditional currency for transactions, such as bride price, and use the canine teeth of flying foxes as a traditional currency [47]. In some folklore, bats often have sexual connotations, which may relate to fertility and agriculture as bats are important seed dispersers and pollinators of many fruit trees. Shockingly, US news media recently reported shortages of Halloween decorationsplastic bats among them, doubtlessdue to the world supply crunch [63]. The king ordered that Emiong be arrested and thrown into prison. Because mountains obscured the western sky, Jesus could not tell when the sun set. In Jamaican folklore, bats are also perceived as death images [59]. Hundreds of thousands of bats were needlessly exterminated during the last two decades of the 20th century. Bats also have wings. A folktale from Southern Nigeria gives a novel explanation of why the bat flies at night while highlighting its supposedly untrustworthy nature. Bats can be found practically everywhere on the planet, including most parts of the United States. 15 Interesting Myths And Legends In African Mythology 1. In Cameroon, the superstition of the vampire is attached to bats. WebAfrican mythology has common threads that run through the various tribe's cultures and stories because rapid migration of people allowed for the spread of language as well as beliefs. MEMBER OPPORTUNITIES FOR 1994, Bats 101: High School Students and Field Research, Tips on Establishing Research Partnerships Between Schools and Wildlife Agencies, Motorola Supports Bat House Research Project, BCI Helps Protect Pennsylvania Mine for Bats, BCI-Sponsored Education Campaign in Mexico Leads to Cave Protection, Look for Masters of the Night: The True Story of Bats. In Malawi, negative bat superstitions caused recently quite disproportionate behavior when rural people in southern parts of the country killed nine people accusing them to be vampire bats [23]. Bats eyes are small and sometimes poorly developed, but they work just fine. The artificial bat became a shorthand for horror in 1931, jiggled on a fishing line behind a Hungarian-American actor Bla Ferenc Dezs Blask, known professionally as Bela Lugosi in the genre-defining movie Dracula. Also known as Hunbatz, One Monkey A Monkey, not a Bat One of the Monkey Twins, hes the son of Hun Hunahpu and Xbaquiyalo. Generally, the Maya revered a Vampire Bat god, Camazotz, the death bat, which killed dying men on their way to the center of the earth [51, 52]. It was called Boman, and it was able to turn into a stone or a snake at will. A woman noted that her husband had a round tail and dropped the vessel of water she was bringing to him. In some versions of the myth, the old mice would climb to the top of a tall tree, and when they reached the highest branches, their tails would detach and grow into wings. In the Far East, particularly China, the Bat represents good fortune and longevity. It is the largest bat found in continental Africa and was believed to suck the blood of sleeping children until they die. Their prayers were partially granted and they were given grotesquely humanoid faces, hair and teeth but still had their wings and could fly. A close-up photo of the Geoffroys Rousette fruit bats Rousettes amplexicaudatus at the Montfort bat cave entrance. He then pretended to demonstrate exactly how he did this. Myth or Fact: Bats are Just Mice with Wings (slide to the left for answer) Text Description for Image Slider Bats play an important role in the ecosystem by eating large quantities of insects. By making research easy to access, and puts the academic needs of the researchers before the business interests of publishers. An idea that reflected their ability to fly around so quickly in the dark without hitting anything. However, modern science, and hence western Europe, really only learned about them as we traveled out to the tropical world. In Madagascar, the exploitation of bats for bush meat regularly takes place during periods of food shortage, especially fruit bats, which are heavily hunted. Stay up to date with the latest news and information about BCI and bats. The oldest age group (5170years old) of 150 respondents were mostly aware of the bat conservation efforts. Many spirits are associated with geographical features, such as mountains, rivers, wells, trees, and springs. In the terminology of folklorists, bats are liminal; they dont fit into the normal order of things and are somehow apart or in-between. Finally, we discuss shortly the need of education to change attitudes toward bats. While others say bats resemble an unhappy bird who got lost on its way to find the sun, in Greece during the middle ages, there was a myth that bats arose from mice. A folktale from Kanara, India tells how bats were once unhappy birds that prayed to become human. Photo credit: Uwe Schmidt. If a bat flies into a house and then escapes, there will be a death in the family. The basic scenario is that, in a battle between the beasts and birds, the bat repeatedly changes allegiance so as to be on the side that appears to be winning. The bat was central to Maya religion and social structure. Photo credit: Stan Delone creative commonWikimedia. With the help of the bat and the flying squirrel, the birds won the ball game, with the agile bat scoring the winning goal. If you have any questions or if you want to get in touch with us, you can find our contact details on our About Us page. Pomo Indians of California have a myth that a bat could chew and swallow a large piece of obsidian and then vomit large numbers of excellent arrowheads. These Goddesses of beauty reflect peace for a lot of people. In Malaysia, older generations prevented thievery by mixing flying fox blood with milky mangrove Excoecaria agallocha tree sap to cause violent intestinal inflammation [40]. Bats prefer a variety of daytime hideaways, including rock crevices, caves, old buildings, mines, bridges, and trees. Bats use a form of echolocation to navigate in the dark and to find their prey. Its based on principles of collaboration, unobstructed discovery, and, most importantly, scientific progression. Obviously, these bats were not the only animalsor even the only batsto use these now destroyed habitats. Fruitbats are not the only bats to be eaten in the Indo-Pacific region. Bending over the soup to stir, but unlike the old joke where a diner saw a hair in their soup, she saw the dead body of her husband. Indigenous Ainu people in Japan worshipped the crafty and wise bat god Kappa kamui, who kept away demons and diseases [44]. In 2021, a bat won New Zealands Bird of the Year competition name of which in Mori language is Te Manu Rongonui o te Tau, and the word Manu means flying creatures, including bats. Below, we will be taking a look at some of the most popular bat myths from around the globe. WebThen there was the Olitiau, a giant demon bat that had been seen in these parts, and lived for hundreds of years. As with that other iconic nocturnal creature, the owl, the bat has a myriad of very strange old wives tales and superstitions surrounding it [15]. Microchiroptera Cheiromeles torquatus is eaten in Borneo and Tadarida sp. On Mochica pottery, a bat is depicted with the Sweetsop Annona squamosa, a common fruit also known as Sugar Apple or Pinha, the seeds of which are dispersed by bats [51, 52]. In shamanism, the bat as well as being a symbol of death and rebirth is able to guide people through the dark times of their lives. Thereafter, humans and animals may have lived different lives; but like people, the animals still had tribes, councils, and ethics, and they played ball games. The enormous size of the bat and the small human head or body indicate supernatural status for the bat [51]. Often seen in movies and even written in books, bats have always been portrayed as mysterious creatures throughout the years. This apparent ambiguity in the nature of bats is seen in many folktales about how they came to be in the first place and how they acquired their various features. These myths associate killer bats with fire as the bat burns its victims and is, in turn, thrown into the fire [60, 61, 62]. Many people still believe this to be true in Mexico. They eat insects performing pest control while also pollinating species of plants and spreading seeds. Therefore, instead of coming out and feeding in daylight he began to feed at night. What are they? For American Indians they provided information on the natural world and the behavior and habits of animals. The bat told him that whenever he made soup he always boiled himself in the water because his flesh was so sweet. Using its new teeth to hold the ball, the bat helps the animals to win the game. Fruit-eating bats such as Jamaican fruit bat Artibeus jamaicensis loves feeding on guavas, which is also the favorite food of the Taino spirits of the dead. In England, they also say that when someone is a little insane, they have bats in the belfry. In Malaysia, ethnic Han Chinese, non-Muslim indigenous groups, and ethnic Malays hunt flying foxes and trade them to the Chinese [27]. It remains to be seen, however, how effectively the further education efforts could halt or even reverse the decline of the bats around the world. They are unquestionably weird beings, appearing as half birds and half rodents, as if they came from a nightmare realm. 2022 The Author(s). An old engraving of vampire bats described by early explorers such as John Stedman. IntechOpen Limited When a truce is declared, the bat is rejected by both sides because of this deceitful behavior. In the West, bats are often perceived as evil spirits, Vampires, and harbingers of death, while some cultures across the Asia-Pacific region associate bats with good fortune. In this article, we will be taking a deep dive into the world of bats in mythology, folklore, and superstition. However, in post-Christian Europe, the bats propensity of flying at night led to its association with the devil. Because they were four-footed, the mouse-like creatures first asked if they could play with the animals, which included a bear, a deer, and a terrapin. Some bats also pollinate flowers and help disperse seeds. WebSpirits African mythology is filled with spirits, invisible beings with powers for good or evil. He's also a teacher, a poet and the owner of 1,152 books. Oyot boiled the water and jumped in, but the soup, being boiling, killed him. In Nagaland between 7000 and 25,000 cave-dwelling bats (Cave Nectar Bat Eonycteris spelaea, Great Roundleaf Bat Hipposideros armiger, and Leschenaults Rousette Rousettus leschenaultii) have been annually harvested until recently [73]. Their well-known agility in flight would make a bat formidable in a ball game against a bear and turtle. Appearing as half bird, half mammal at the edge of day and night they are seen as liminal beings and not part of the natural order. See my wings. The weasel replied, Well, so you are! and let the bat go. A world without bats would look very different than the one you know and not for the better.
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