In another tale from Aesop, a bat borrows money for a business venture that fails. Should a bat or an owl come near the house, or a bush-cat defecate in the compound, the owner must go at once to diviner to discover what remedies must be taken to ward off the evil. Medics said there is no truth or clinical evidence that blood suckers or vampires exist in Malawi, and the United Nations mission withdrew its personnel from the riots-affected areas [24]. This suggests that the Asia-Pacific region and its cultures contain far more positive associations with bats than most European or American societies and, as such, offer promising examples and opportunities to promote human-bat coexistence. Bat They eat insects performing pest control while also pollinating species of plants and spreading seeds. He's also a teacher, a poet and the owner of 1,152 books. Many paintings from western Europe in the middle ages depict the devil with bat wings. Bat Myths Both these references are the same; they list the birds that the people of God are not allowed to eat the list ends with the bat. Zteve enjoys researching deep into the folklore, myths and legends that run through society and are part of our everyday lives. If a bat flies into a house and then escapes, there will be a death in the family. The myths grew with the 1927 stage production which further associated Dracula with bats. Nearly another third reported actively killing bats or destroying bat roosts, and most respondents associated bats with the destruction of farmers fruits, especially mangoes. In Thailand, bat meat or blood is eaten for muscle pain, increasing virility and longevity [36]. However, modern science, and hence western Europe, really only learned about them as we traveled out to the tropical world. 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. We are a community of more than 103,000 authors and editors from 3,291 institutions spanning 160 countries, including Nobel Prize winners and some of the worlds most-cited researchers. 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. In the old days, people used to think that bats were evil, and they would often try to kill them. Most often, they are seen only at night. The weasel replied, No, I never let mice go! The bat said, Well, look closely at me. In medieval Europe, dragons were usually depicted with wings and a barbed tail and as breathing fire. 7. Between 1981 and 1989, approximately 13,000 fruit bat bodies were imported into Guam for human consumption every year. author. Although bats already had long had a sinister reputation their addition to European vampire folklore came after that. In this article, we will be taking a deep dive into the world of bats in mythology, folklore, and superstition. On the other hand, the Tupinamba people believed that the planet would be eaten by a bat at the end of time. The bat represented the opias (= spirits of the dead people) to the Taino. Bats appear in numerous myths throughout the world and are frequently connected with death, darkness, and the supernatural. Men hunt and consume bats more often than women who have fears that consuming bat meat would give them strange or deformed children. For American Indians they provided information on the natural world and the behavior and habits of animals. The Adjule is also called a Bush Dog. The animals then give teeth to the bat to make it more animal-like. Therefore, instead of coming out and feeding in daylight he began to feed at night. The Tongan kings Samoan wife was rescued by flying foxes, and she honored her rescuers later by naming her son Tonumaipea (= rescued by flying foxes) [45]. This article has covered some of the main points about bat mythology, superstition, folklore, and persecution. It is a carnivore, eating birds and other vertebrates, occasionally taking even other species of bats. One clan of the Cakchiquel Maya, of the highlands of Guatemala, was named the Zotzil (=belonging to the bat), whose deity was a bat. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode. In a Creek Indian variation of this tale, the bat first asks to play with the birds but is rejected by them and accepted by the animals team. The higher level of education was not always reflected in the positive attitudes toward environment and wildlife issues. An irrational fear of batsChiroptophobiaencompasses negative perceptions of bats as disease vectors, pests, or harmful creatures associated with devils and witchcraft, which represents an important barrier to bat conservation globally [27]. Similarly, the Ge tribe in Brazil moved through the night following a bat that looked for light toward which to guide the people (Figure 4) [51, 52]. Among the rambling stories and folklore that make up the tales of the Australian Aboriginal Dream-time, there is one of a confrontation between Tjinimin the Bat God and the Great Rainbow-Snake. Micro-batswhich include the smaller, familiar snub-nosed batsmainly hunt by echolocation. Photo credit: Raniel Jose Castaneda creative commons Wikimedia credit as in Figure 7. Bats - Disease-Prone but Beneficial, Reviewed: December 23rd, 2021 Published: January 18th, 2022, Total Chapter Downloads on intechopen.com. It takes the form of a firefly, but if you capture one, it will revert to human appearance. These arrowheads were used to kill deer and were considered very powerful. bat, (order Chiroptera), any member of the only group of mammals capable of flight. For instance, 40,000 caves have been dynamited in Venezuela. Upset at his death, and possibly the ruining of the soup, she went straight to the king. HUN BATZ WebSpirits African mythology is filled with spirits, invisible beings with powers for good or evil. The study estimated that in the karstic Mahafaly Plateau some 50100 caves are exploited for bats and that between 70,000 and 140,000 Microchiroptera bats may be collected annually in the region. Archaeological evidence suggests that before the coming of Europeans, flying foxes were not often used as food by the Australian Aborigines. In Irian Jaya of Indonesia, former head-hunters considered flying foxes to be head-hunters too, as they took the head of the tree by consuming its fruit [37]. The Tzotzil Maya lived, and continue to live to this day, on the plateau of Chiapas in southern Mexico. Using four species of bats and three brave female volunteers he deliberately attempted to entangle the bats by thrusting them into the womans hair. Thanks Sir for this website. They have wings and fly like birds (actually, in many ways better than birds). In many parts of Indonesia, people specifically consume bats livers and hearts as medicine [39]. 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]. The Adze is a vampire in the legends of the Ewe people of Ghana and Togo. 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. This category has the following 7 subcategories, out of 7 total. Sometimes, as with the myth, it leaves a trademark two-pronged bite on the victim. These creatures have had a long and varied history with humans, and it is hoped that this article has helped to increase your understanding of these creatures. Because mountains obscured the western sky, Jesus could not tell when the sun set. Vampire bats were not discovered until the 16th century in Central and South America. Oyot boiled the water and jumped in, but the soup, being boiling, killed him. One bat, whose habits may have fostered these tales of decapitating bats, is the false vampire Vampyrum spectrum. When his wife returned she saw the pot was still boiling and no sign of her husband. This is because people thought that bats were associated with witches and black magic. In its entire history, the state of New York has recorded only one case of bat-transmitted rabies [64]. Two Bats are greater luck, and five represents the five blessings The first sighting was reported in 1928 by Thodore Monod. Bats in Myth and Legend 945ontwerp / Getty Images Bats are often misunderstood. The genus Pteropus was first described by Brisson in 1762 from specimens collected on the Reunion Islands. In northern Guiana, Bat Mountain is the home of killer bats, and there is also a killer bat in folklore from Venezuela. People sometimes think of them as blind, bloodthirsty flying mice. Licensee IntechOpen. The tour includes a brief 20-minute conservation education lecture about bats, caves, and the history of the Montford Bat Cave Sanctuary. Around 62% of the Asia-Pacific people had only positive cultural values of bats, 8% had only neutral values, while 10% had only negative values [27]. In Malaysia, older generations prevented thievery by mixing flying fox blood with milky mangrove Excoecaria agallocha tree sap to cause violent intestinal inflammation [40]. He has studied bats for many years and is author of the entry on bats in The Encyclopedia of American Folklore and Superstition. In Africa, bats were credited with high intelligence. WebBats typically live in deep underground caves, which symbolically is the belly of the Mother (Earth), and from these womb-like caves they emerge each evening at dusk - reborn. Brief introduction to this section that descibes Open Access especially from an IntechOpen perspective, Want to get in touch? Like all bats, the large fruit-eating bats of the family (Pteropidae) must have been known to humanity since the dawn of time. 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. Males are called Kelb-el-khela, and females are called Tarhst. African Mythology People often perceive bats as anomalous or ambiguous creatures, different from more normal animals. Iban people in Sarawak, Borneo, believe that a bat flying into the house indicates a shaman bringing good vibes, conferring protection against any harm, while in Thailand, if a bat enters a house but immediately flies away, it is believed to change bad luck to good. The Serer Creation Myth Like in every creation myth in Africa, the Serer of Senegal, Mauritania and the Gambia have theirs. So in honor of National Bat Week, we're clearing up some myths about the world's only flying mammal. Their well-known agility in flight would make a bat formidable in a ball game against a bear and turtle. The bat said, Well look at me. On all occasions, the bats were able to escape without becoming entangled. As PhD students, we found it difficult to access the research we needed, so we decided to create a new Open Access publisher that levels the playing field for scientists across the world. The native-American tribes, like the Thuni Indians, believed that a bat predicted rain. The apparent liminality of bats is also reflected in a legend from the Kanarese of India in which bats were originally a type of unhappy bird. Creative commonsWikimedia. Company registered in England & Wales, no. The bat begged to be spared but the weasel insisted that he could not do that because he was an enemy of all birds. There is also, of course, the European connection with bats to vampirism. Aboriginal peoples, however, were describing them long before this. 2022 The Author(s). Especially Western cultural associations of bats with evil spirits, which have been recorded in Christian tradition as early as the fourteenth century [68] along with current media sensationalizing bats and the COVID-19 pandemic, are major hindrances toward bat conservation [69], although there is no reason why public health messages cannot be consistent with bat conservation. Recommended for you. These Goddesses of beauty reflect peace for a lot of people. Bats are found almost everywhere on Earth! Bats Especially when the bats preferred natural resources have been logged out of existence and replanted as a monoculture. 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. He told her he would make some tasty soup like Emiong had taught him for when she returned. Many people still believe this to be true in Mexico. African An idea that reflected their ability to fly around so quickly in the dark without hitting anything. 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. 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. In Europe, there are also myths about bats in the house. In Caribbean South America and the Antilles, bat images are associated with death rites and burials in archeological context [57], and in Cuba, a Taino ball court was bat-shaped, the ballgame being a sacrificial ritual [58]. Common vampire bat Desmodus rotundus is the one reason for global Chiroptophobia although it is very small weighing about 55 grams and only occurring in central and South America. A legend tells that in Fiji, a giant white vampire bat acts as a messenger, and one finds bats as gods in both Tikopian and Tongan myths. WebFar Eastern Bat Symbolic Meanings. Lately, education seems to have some effect, and more and more people have started to appreciate how useful and amazing bats truly are. In Africa, house bats occur in distinct colors and sizes, but they are usually hard to Prior to 1985, flying foxes were not protected in New South Walesin fact, they were regarded as vermin. This pollination syndrome is called chiropterophily. In southwest Asia, bat folklore has been documented between Iran, India, and Myanmar [25, 26, 27]. Using two willing female teenagers, one with relatively short curly hair and one with longer wavy hair was done up behind in a bun, Cranbrook took turns in placing four different species of bat on their heads. Folklore of Bats: From Mythology to Witchcraft to In Vietnam, many mounted bat species are sold in souvenir shops, and in Laos, bats are traded in several markets (Figure 3) [41, 42]. It remains to be seen, however, if this could halt or even reverse the decline of the North American bats [64]. Out of over 13,000 species, there are only three that feed on blood. However, in post-Christian Europe, the bats propensity of flying at night led to its association with the devil. A noctule bat Nyctalus noctula, a long-eared bat Plecotus auritus, a Natters bat Myotis nattereri and a Daubentons bat Myotis daubentonii. Bats prefer a variety of daytime hideaways, including rock crevices, caves, old buildings, mines, bridges, and trees. An old engraving of vampire bats described by early explorers such as John Stedman. People would sometimes even burn down whole colonies of bats because they thought that this would stop the spread of disease. Home > Orchard owners in Myanmar believe that allowing bats to roost and feed in the garden ensures prosperity and well-being. In some countries such as the UK bats are seen as an indicator species and the stability of their population is monitored to look for changes in biodiversity. From this duality and strangeness evolved a reputation of duplicity and threat, appearing as neither one thing nor the other. Shockingly, US news media recently reported shortages of Halloween decorationsplastic bats among them, doubtlessdue to the world supply crunch [63]. As such, they would place a bat on the ground, point its head towards the sky, and wait for raindrops to fall on its back. Bats also have wings. By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. The decision to include the New Zealand long-tailed bat Chalinolobus tuberculatus also known as pekapeka-tou-roa (Mori) in the 2021 Bird of the Year competition did cause a bit of controversy, some people saying the country had gone batty. However, the long-tailed bat got more than 7000 votes, bringing a clear victory to this critically endangered animal, despite not being a bird [50]. Later bats received even more bad publicity when they became linked to Count Dracula and vampires. Bats feature in many myths, legends and folklore from diverse cultures around the world, and are often associated with darkness, death and the supernatural. Over five hundred species of plants rely on bats for pollination including durian, banana, mango, guava, cocoa and agave.
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