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. Having multifaceted anatomy of a lion, hippopotamus, and crocodile, she waited for the opportunity to devour the hearts of BATS IN FOLKLOREpart six, the conclusion to a series on bats in North American and European folklore. Many people still believe this to be true in Mexico. Bat guano provides one reason for the fertility associations [56]. 3. Both to such an extent that hunting them has become a major concern to environmentalists. WebTraditional Navajo folklore places the origin of bats in the earliest world, when all was dark: twelve insects and the bat revolved in darkness. 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. They belong to the Order Chiroptera. Prior to 1985, flying foxes were not protected in New South Walesin fact, they were regarded as vermin. In Hunza, Pakistan, a witch appears in the shape of a bat, and it plays a role in magical practice in southwest Asia. Spirits are less grand, less powerful, and less like humans than the gods, who often have weaknesses and emotions. This North American bat-like depiction should come as no surprise; it is merely another manifestation of the fear, horror, and superstition with which bats have been regarded down through ages [64]. Recommended for you. 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; Archaeological evidence suggests that before the coming of Europeans, flying foxes were not often used as food by the Australian Aborigines. 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 also don't share behavior with rodents. Brief introduction to this section that descibes Open Access especially from an IntechOpen perspective, Want to get in touch? 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. Megabatslarger bats that include fruit batssearch for food using sight and smell. 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]. Bats eyes are small and sometimes poorly developed, but they work just fine. Peasant farmers in Mexico used to call bats ratones viejos, which translates to old mice. They thought that when mice grew older, they would develop wings and transform into bats. Do you know the difference between fact and fiction when it comes to bats? We love to hear from our readers. When capturing its prey, it grabs the neck, sometimes killing the prey with a single powerful bite [51, 52]. Contact our London head office or media team here. Bats for eating in the Laos marketplace. WebFar Eastern Bat Symbolic Meanings. However, consumption was influenced by religious beliefs, food taboos, and some myths about bats. In the Bible, the bat is seen to be unclean [8], while its nocturnal activities ally it to malevolent spirits that roam the land when darkness has fallen. This pollination syndrome is called chiropterophily. However, in post-Christian Europe, the bats propensity of flying at night led to its association with the devil. When soup was placed before Oyot it was as good and tasty as ever but it was from a different batch the bat had prepared early. The bat is the nights mentor and is associated with Talking God, one of the most powerful deities. No content from this site may be used elsewhere without the permission of either #FolkloreThursday or the article https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode. These intensely emotional visuals have most likely led to the sinister image of bats that many people still hold, even though we now know they are valuable members of the environment! Bats also have wings. Experience the wonder of bats. Photo credit: Public domain creative commonsWikimedia. Some bats also pollinate flowers and help disperse seeds. Even worse have been the vandalism and wanton destruction of bats and their habitat in North America. There are more than 1,300 bat species! 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. In the sandstone caves of Northern Australia, the Northern Territory, and Queensland, there are numerous depictions of flying foxes, some dating back tens of thousands of years. These are Under the influence! It is imperative to obtain more current ethnobiological data to further our understanding of contemporary attitudes and relationships with batsand to document other cultural traditions not covered in this review. WebMYTH: Bats are blind. Courtesy of creative commonsWikimedia. IntechOpen Limited His name means literally One Monkey, which is more than fitting as he turned into one. The bat is a devil who flies only in the night because it would die if flying in the daytime [25]. Bats prefer a variety of daytime hideaways, including rock crevices, caves, old buildings, mines, bridges, and trees. The remaining cultures had combinations of positive, neutral, and negative values. WebSpirits African mythology is filled with spirits, invisible beings with powers for good or evil. For example, a bat entering a household was a forewarning of a death in the house. 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. In England, they also say that when someone is a little insane, they have bats in the belfry. Bat Conservation International 500 N Capital of TXHwy. In Madagascar, the exploitation of bats for bush meat regularly takes place during periods of food shortage, especially fruit bats, which are heavily hunted. In southwest Asia, the bat is predominantly perceived as a strange, negative, and demonic animal that should be avoided. So, using positive symbolism alone to promote bat conservation might be insufficient without accounting for day-to-day relationships of local communities with bats. ), the ambiguous nature of bats is transformed into duplicity in their character. 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]. Bats were also persecuted because they were believed to be carriers of disease. Large, often man-eating, bats are found in Hawaiian traditions, and there is even a legend of an eight-eyed bat in Hawaii. If a bat flies into a house and then escapes, there will be a death in the family. Between Iran and Rajasthan, north-western India, there is the widespread public belief that if a bat lives somewhere in the house or hangs on the roof, this would mean bad luck for the owner [25]. Sometimes, as with the myth, it leaves a trademark two-pronged bite on the victim. Two Bats are greater luck, and five represents the five blessings Creative commonsWikimedia. Many mythological stories from different cultures have been passed down throughout the years about bats. The myth states that a mouse came into a church and stole one of the wafers of the eucharistand then decided to keep it rather than eat it. 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. Many paintings from western Europe in the middle ages depict the devil with bat wings. Finally, his wife realized what he was doing and set fire to the tree and killed her husband and the bats [54]. 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. If a man whose wife is nearing childbirth unthinkingly does so, some harm may befall the unborn baby [34]. Bats are mentioned three times in the Old Testament. Stay up to date with the latest news and information about BCI and bats. In this story, Jonayaiyin, a hero who battled the enemies of mankind, killed several eagles and gave their feathers to a bat who had helped him escape from the eagles nest. These gods and goddesses are some of the more well-known in Africa yet some of the lesser known by people of the the rest of the world. Muslims and Seventh Day Adventists did not consume bat meat. Bats are very social animals and often live in colonies of hundreds or even thousands of individuals. They are unquestionably weird beings, appearing as half birds and half rodents, as if they came from a nightmare realm. Do they really deserve this sinister reputation, or do they play a more important role in the world than feeding the dark human fascination for the spooky and the supernatural? The myths grew with the 1927 stage production which further associated Dracula with bats. Vampire bats were not discovered until the 16th century in Central and South America. Photo credit to creative commons https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode. In many parts of Indonesia, people specifically consume bats livers and hearts as medicine [39]. WebBat (goddess) Read Bat became the emblem on a sistrum, related to Hathor and which appears on the top of columns of her main temple of Denderah This painted terracotta Naqada figure of a woman is interpreted as representing Bat, c. 35003400 B.C. Test your knowledge with the "Myth or Fact" image sliders below. Our tax ID number is 74-2553144. Another belief about bats comes from the Navajo, a Native American tribe from the southwestern United States. In the old days, people used to think that bats were evil, and they would often try to kill them. *Address all correspondence to: heimomikkola@yahoo.co.uk. In Malaysia, a face-to-face survey was conducted in Penang Island to assess knowledge and awareness level toward bat conservation efforts. However, after offering prayers, dead bats found on the ground can be eaten. Emiong always cooked a really tasty soup that Oyot loved and one day, after enjoying a bowl of Emiongs soup, Oyot asked how he managed to make it so tasty. Among the Ibibio people of southern Nigeria, bats are associated with witchcraft, and for any bat to fly into a house and touch a person is a sure sign that this person is thereafter bewitched and will soon perish because his or her heart is eaten at night while he or she sleeps. The weasel replied, No, I never let mice go! The bat said, Well, look closely at me. Bldg. Finally, we discuss shortly the need of education to change attitudes toward bats. Adjule. Open Access is an initiative that aims to make scientific research freely available to all. The third reference is in Isaiah 2:20. Sometimes bats are husbands as in a Mataco lore from Argentina. Photo credit: Raniel Jose Castaneda creative commons Wikimedia credit as in Figure 7. While Aesops fables involving bats may have envisioned them as duplicitous and dishonest, other folklore has ascribed a lot worse to bats, as we have seen in this series of articles. In that day people will throw away to the moles and bats their idols of silver and idols of gold, Surprisingly little folklore exists specifically about Vampire bats, and Pre-Columbian erotic scenes do not involve bats although some folklore portrays female bats as alluring to men. 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. It is no real surprise that in a Christian Europe throughout history, the bat has been associated with the Devil, evil spirits, and witches [9]. Licensee IntechOpen. While the English term batty denotes mad in a reasonably innocuous sense. The general attitude is that the flying fox is part of the forest, and the vast majority support the protection of Pteropus samoensis and P. tonganus [45]. Despite its scientific name, it feeds exclusively on fruits, nectar, and flowers and not blood (Figure 6) [70]. This is because people thought that bats were associated with witches and black magic. Upset at his death, and possibly the ruining of the soup, she went straight to the king. Myth 2: MicroBats are Small, and Megabats are big Bats are broadly divided into two categories, Megachiropetra which are Old World fruit bats, and Michrochiropetra that are echolocating bats. Their prayers were answered, but only in part; they were given teeth, hair, and human faces, but otherwise remained bird-like. There exists a widespread belief in Southeast Asia that eating bat meat cures asthma [27]. Flying foxs emergence time is believed in Myanmar to indicate the weather: an early or no emergence foretells a coming storm. #FolkloreThursday 27 Old Gloucester Street, London, United Kingdom, WC1N 3AX. 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 Africa, house bats occur in distinct colors and sizes, but they are usually hard to But where theyre used as an ingredient in a witchs brew, theyre no different to frogs or snails (also common ingredients). The Navajo people thought that bats were able to fly between different worlds and act as a bridge between the supernatural and the natural. Theyre passive components, not active agents of change. People sometimes think of them as blind, bloodthirsty flying mice. Bats are also revered throughout India. Between 1985 and 1994, they were removed from the protected fauna list in Queensland. However, modern science, and hence western Europe, really only learned about them as we traveled out to the tropical world. 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. It is a canine creature supposedly living close to the Sahara Desert in North Africa. Here are just a few: If a bat flies into your house, look out for bedbugs. From Sierra Leone comes an account of the gruesome habits of the Hammer-headed Fruit Bat Hypsignathus monstrosus. In Myths of the Cherokee (1900), James Mooney points out that a general theme in American Indian folklore is that, in the beginning, there were no essential differences between humans and animals. Bats tend to get off on the wrong wing with us humans. The Adjule is also called a Bush Dog. In the Far East, particularly China, the Bat represents good fortune and longevity. There are several instances where bats were killed in large numbers. 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. In Malaysia, older generations prevented thievery by mixing flying fox blood with milky mangrove Excoecaria agallocha tree sap to cause violent intestinal inflammation [40]. 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]. Photo credit: [7] Roy Kabanlit creative commonsWikimedia https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode. As messengers for the forces of darkness, they become evil omens. Bastet/Sekhmet, Bastet and Sekhmet were described as two parts of a similar Goddess, with Sekhmet representing the ground-breaking fighter and defender figure and Bastet, who was often portrayed as a feline, speaking to a gentler viewpoint. Bats are often misunderstood. Besides hunting, the primary threats to bat species include habitat loss and degradation through logging. In a Cherokee fable, an eagle, a hawk, and other birds fashioned the first bat and the first flying squirrel from two mouse-like creatures. The account is linked to the first trees created by roog. 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 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]. We will be exploring how different cultures view these creatures and what stories have been told about them throughout the years. 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. Over five hundred species of plants rely on bats for pollination including durian, banana, mango, guava, cocoa and agave. For instance, 40,000 caves have been dynamited in Venezuela. This Order name means hand-wing as the bats can hold food between their forearms. Sunset is just the beginning. Repeatedly, the bats feathers were stolen by small birds, and repeatedly the bat returned to Jonayaiyin to ask for more. The birds took pity on the creatures and fashioned wings for one of them out of the head of a drum made from a groundhog skin, thus creating the first bat. 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. Our CFC number is 12064. It is merely a passing reference, along with moles, to represent animals that live with things that have been discarded. Contemporarily the bats were divided based upon morphology and behavior into two suborders, Microchiroptera (Microbats) and Megachiroptera (Flying Foxes and Old World Fruit Bats) [4]. Sometimes a Mochica bat carries a warclub and a small human captive. I am a bird. 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. And because of this, many myths, superstitions, and folklore have been created about them. In Jamaican folklore, bats are also perceived as death images [59]. He's also a teacher, a poet and the owner of 1,152 books. Bats are also used as allegories to denote romantic or parental love in the poetry of Tamil Sangam literature in India [27, 28, 29]. considers bat as harm meaning that it is forbidden as food. 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. In its entire history, the state of New York has recorded only one case of bat-transmitted rabies [64]. 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. In Cameroon, the superstition of the vampire is attached to bats. In Pakistan, one belief is that if a bat enters ones ear, it can never be removed and contact with bat urine is thought to cause eczema. Unquestionably, they are strange creatures, appearing as half animal and half bird, like something from a nightmare world. It is a carnivore, eating birds and other vertebrates, occasionally taking even other species of bats. In India, a total of 3059 high school students from 36 schools were questioned on their bat perceptions. Nandi Bear. The oldest age group (5170years old) of 150 respondents were mostly aware of the bat conservation efforts. Aboriginal peoples, however, were describing them long before this. As you can see, bats have been both persecuted and protected through the ages. Using its new teeth to hold the ball, the bat helps the animals to win the game. Here, using documented narratives, surveys, popular literature, and cinema, we will explore the various myths, legends, and attitudes to bats from around the world. Bat Conservation International is a 501(c)(3) organization. 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. Thanks Sir for this website. Whereas in China, it was a sign of good fortune. 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]. The Adze is a vampire in the legends of the Ewe people of Ghana and Togo. There are more than 1000 different species of bats in the world, making them the second-largest order of mammals. A woman noted that her husband had a round tail and dropped the vessel of water she was bringing to him. Company registered in England & Wales, no. These small creatures wished to participate in a ball game in which the animals challenged the birds. In northern Thailand, harming bats incurs a curse because bats are sacred for Buddhists [36]. We explore the role that bats play in traditional narratives and the likely reasons for their salience, including their connections with the extraordinary and supernatural. 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. Lately, education seems to have some effect, and more and more people have started to appreciate how useful and amazing bats truly are. The north coast of Peru is one of the South American regions where bat iconography is particularly prominent [51]. The felling of roosting trees was mentioned as bat death reason by 29% and hunting by 18%. It is greedy for fragile human living creatures and sings a resonating tune to itself as it feasts. Since the fourteenth century, Chinese culture has associated bats with good luck and blessings [33]. Especially when the bats preferred natural resources have been logged out of existence and replanted as a monoculture. However, the path to protection has been a rocky one for the Flying Foxes. A long time ago, on the opposite side of the earth, the Aztec term for a bat was apparently quimichpapalotl, which means butterfly mouse. People in Vanuatu consider Pacific Flying Fox Pteropus tonganus as their ancestor and claim to be able to communicate with them [46]. When you stand with us, your donation will support critical bat conservation initiatives. The higher level of education was not always reflected in the positive attitudes toward environment and wildlife issues. They then appealed to the eagle, the captain of the bird team. 2. Montfort bat cave entrance in the Philippines with the numerous Geoffroys Rousette fruit bats Rousettes amplexicaudatus. That nailing a dead bat to your door will protect you from demons, That putting a drop of bats blood under a womans pillow will help her be fruitful. 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. Men hunt and consume bats more often than women who have fears that consuming bat meat would give them strange or deformed children. This was before people knew about germs and how diseases are spread. 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]. An artist's depiction of the Adjule or Bush Dog. In many human cultures, caves were seen as gateways to the underworld and bats often emerge from caves at twilight when day merges into night. Bat in the Cultures of the World | Gotham in . The bat populations in Malaysia are decreasing in 26% of species and only 15% are still stable. It was from these traditions that the vampire bats were named rather than them giving their name to the supernatural, blood-sucking creature. This liminality gives bats a supernatural air that further heightens mystery and distrust as they cross the borders between birds and mammals, day and night. I am a bat ecologist with an interest in how people, culture and beliefs bonds or ties with bats. 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. GET INVOLVED! There are more than 1400 bat species worldwide, and they make up roughly 20% of the worlds extant mammals [6]. Shockingly, US news media recently reported shortages of Halloween decorationsplastic bats among them, doubtlessdue to the world supply crunch [63]. Bats are symbolic of bad luck, especially when they call while flying early in the evening. 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. They have fur and teeth and nurse their young like other mammals, but they dont walk on four legs. The underworld is often associated with the dead but it is perhaps the association with vampires that is the most sinister aspect of bats. Zteve believes that people have far more in common with each other than is often shown on the surface and this can often be seen in the folktales from other parts of the world. WebWhen seen as human souls, bats are often imagined as souls of the dead, particularly souls of the damned, or those that are not yet at peace. In his book Bats (1939), G. M. Allen speculates that this association of bats with arrowheads refers to the California leaf-nosed bat (Macrotus californicus).
Texas Middle School Track Results,
San Pedro, Belize Waterfront Real Estate,
Articles B