NOT ALL VAMPIRES ARE MYTHS LIKE Count Dracula Some vampires are only too real The vampire bat lives from Mexico south into Central and South America It lives only on blood The vampire bat is a very scary-looking animal Like all bats the vampire is a mammal Its body is covered with short gray or brown hair Its body is just about three inches long and it has a wingspread of about one foot The bat has razor-sharp front teeth It uses its teeth to make a slit in the skin of its victim Then it laps up the blood that comes out of the wound The cut is made so skillfully that the victim may not even wake up from its sleep Vampire bats attack their victims only at night The bats often feed on cattle horses and other domestic animals Less often vampire bats will also attack people While the wound heals quickly repeated feedings on the same animal can make it weak and ill Even more serious are the diseases that can be passed on by the bat Among the worst of the diseases is rabies which often results in the death of the victim Vampire bats live in colonies of about one dozen or more animals During the daylight hours the bats roost in cracks and crevices in the walls of caves If disturbed the bats can run along the walls with surprising speed When its wings are folded the bat walks like a four-footed animal or hops like a frog
There STONEFISH GETS ITS NAME BECAUSE it looks just like a stone or rock When a stonefish rests on the sea bottom it is almost invisible Any small animal that comes near is quickly swallowed But even if a large animal comes near a stonefish does not move away This makes it possible for a person to step upon one accidentally And stepping on a stonefish can be a very nasty experience Along a stonefish’s back are thirteen large spines The spines will shoot a deadly poison into anyone stepping on them The pain is immediate and terrible and it lasts for hours before it gradually lessens There are stories of people who tried to cut off their own legs so great was their agony A person who has received a large amount of the poison usually dies within six hours And even small amounts can lead to the loss of a toe or a foot If a person does recover from the poison it may take as long as six months to get over the attack There is no doubt that the stonefishes are the most poisonous fishes in the world Fortunately they are not very common They are found in the shallow ocean waters around Australia some Pacific islands and part of the Indian Ocean Similar fish are found in other tropical seas
