There is a Japanese word for bat, komori, which is said to mean mosquito slaughterer. In Japanese mythology, very old bats can transform into nobusuma, spirit animals resembling flying squirrels that land on their victims faces at night to feed off blood [43]. 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]. Throughout Southeast Asia, bats are associated with luck and good fortune and used as spiritual totems [6, 27]. 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. Aboriginal peoples, however, were describing them long before this. In India, bats are revered in many areas, but still large bat-harvesting festivals take place. In shamanism, the bat as well as being a symbol of death and rebirth is able It is also noted that bat tourism has a potential to conserve bat populations while providing social and economic benefits to local people in host communities. 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. The bat represented the opias (= spirits of the dead people) to the Taino. Test your knowledge with the "Myth or Fact" image sliders below. For example, a number of these countries are investing in the burgeoning industry of ecotourism by promoting organized visits to bat caves and bat watching [74, 75]. 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. (Above is from a variety of African mythology not just Sub-Saharan, but it's also the tiniest fraction of it) Bats are mentioned three times in the Old Testament. The idea that carrying a bats eye around with you will allow you to turn invisible. 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. Conversely, negative symbolism could promote conservation if it prevents unsustainable hunting and consumption [27]. 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. Much of the folklore about bats relates to their way of life. Finally, his wife realized what he was doing and set fire to the tree and killed her husband and the bats [54]. Here are just a few: If a bat flies into your house, look out for bedbugs. In Malaysia, a face-to-face survey was conducted in Penang Island to assess knowledge and awareness level toward bat conservation efforts. Bats are interesting animals and have been a part of human culture for a long time. 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. Large-bodied old-world fruit bats, like this Egyptian fruit bat Rousettus aegyptiacus, are disproportionally targeted to be hunted for bushmeat. First he filled a large pot with warm water which he told his friend was boiling. In Africa, house bats occur in distinct colors and sizes, but they are usually hard to identify. In some places bats were seen more positively. In Africa, bats were credited with high intelligence. Apaches tell a different tale about bats. In Thailand, bat meat or blood is eaten for muscle pain, increasing virility and longevity [36]. See my wings. The weasel replied, Well, so you are! and let the bat go. 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. Tertullian, an early Christian author from Carthage (155220), claimed that the Devil and his angels had wings [10], and around 1314, Dante wrote that the Devils wings had no feathers, but was in form and texture like a bats [11]. Open Access is an initiative that aims to make scientific research freely available to all. Many spirits are associated with geographical features, such as mountains, rivers, wells, trees, and springs. Experience the wonder of bats. Spirits are less grand, less powerful, and less like humans than the gods, who often have weaknesses and emotions. Presented here are different viewpoints from around the world, followed by a short look at the real significance of bats to humankind. In Africa, bats were credited with high intelligence. Later bats received even more bad publicity when they became linked to Count Dracula and vampires. Therefore, let us give them the recognition they deserve because if bats were to disappear tomorrow, that would give us something to genuinely fear. Photo credit: Uwe Schmidt. 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. The Greek philosopher Chaerephon was called the bat, because he, like the animal, did not appear by day but instead hid and philosophized. Photo credit: Public domain creative commonsWikimedia. The fictional DC Comic Super-hero, Batman relied on the sinister aspect of bats to strike fear into criminals, yet despite the scary myths, bats are an important part of the ecosystems and economies of many parts of the world. Bats can be found practically everywhere on the planet, including most parts of the United States. Bats are very social animals and often live in colonies of hundreds or even thousands of individuals. In all four cases, the bats each walked about the volunteers hair without becoming entangled in any way and finally took flight without any difficulty. This allowed the borders to be crossed and the dead and the spirits of the underworld return to visit earth. Vampires had been part of Slavic folklore in Eastern Europe since the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but it was not until the nineteenth century that popular fictional literature, predominantly through Bram Stokers Dracula in 1897, would forever tie bats and vampires together, with the protagonist, Count Dracula, being able to transform himself into a huge bat [13]. It was from these traditions that the vampire bats were named rather than them giving their name to the supernatural, blood-sucking creature. Despite positive associations toward bats, they are widely consumed as food and medicine throughout Asia, except in Brunei and Singapore. A noctule bat Nyctalus noctula, a long-eared bat Plecotus auritus, a Natters bat Myotis nattereri and a Daubentons bat Myotis daubentonii. I am a bird. 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. Bats appear in numerous myths throughout the world and are frequently connected with death, darkness, and the supernatural. American Indian legends and Aesop both gave animals human characteristics, including our failings, to teach moral precepts and the consequences of inappropriate behavior. WebFar Eastern Bat Symbolic Meanings. Despite all the sinister associations bats perform an essential role in the environment, adding greatly to the wellbeing of humanity. 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]. In Africa, house bats occur in distinct colors and sizes, but they are usually hard to A woman noted that her husband had a round tail and dropped the vessel of water she was bringing to him. 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]. 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]. African Hundreds of thousands of bats were needlessly exterminated during the last two decades of the 20th century. WebLegendary creatures from African mythology. Creative commonsWikimedia. 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]. Folklore of Bats: From Mythology to Witchcraft to These names can be misleading as often, megabats can be smaller while microbats can be bigger. Brief introduction to this section that descibes Open Access especially from an IntechOpen perspective, Want to get in touch? Bats are often misunderstood. With Gods permission, He fashioned the winged likeness of a bat from clay and breathed life into it. Their prayers were answered, but only in part; they were given teeth, hair, and human faces, but otherwise remained bird-like. As messengers for the forces of darkness, they become evil omens. Despite this primate-like gesture, it took quite some time for people to understand that bats are mammals and not birds. Its based on principles of collaboration, unobstructed discovery, and, most importantly, scientific progression. Photo credit: [7] Roy Kabanlit creative commonsWikimedia https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode. The tour includes a brief 20-minute conservation education lecture about bats, caves, and the history of the Montford Bat Cave Sanctuary. Then he jumped into it and sat in it for a while and then climbed out. Bats were also persecuted because they were believed to be carriers of disease. Sociocultural definitions of animals as good or evil have persisted throughout the history of human beings. In Pudukkottai, roosting P. medius is seen as the guardian of the sacred groves, and in Bihar, that bat brings wealth. In England, they also say that when someone is a little insane, they have bats in the belfry. In the terminology of folklorists, bats are liminal; they dont fit into the normal order of things and are somehow apart or in-between. Especially when the bats preferred natural resources have been logged out of existence and replanted as a monoculture. In Hunza, Pakistan, a witch appears in the shape of a bat, and it plays a role in magical practice in southwest Asia. African final exam review mythology Bat Mythology There is a strong association between bats and death. That burning incense over the site of a bat buried at a crossroads would help you acquire a powerful love potion. Courtesy of creative commonsWikimedia. Bat meat is widely consumed because it is considered more delicious than other types of meat. A variety of methods have been used to harass and kill these harmless and beneficial creatures, and some people have even gone so far as to dynamite caves and abandoned mines where bats roost or hibernate [64]. Further films and novels continued associating vampires with bats and this is still perpetuated in western literature, films, television, theatre, art and most forms of media. In Sri Lanka, it is believed that one may be reincarnated as a bat for denying another person drinking water [31]. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this. Both African-Americans and those of European descent from around the United States frequently maintain that When Oyot went home his wife had to go out on an errand. In the old days, people used to think that bats were evil, and they would often try to kill them. Public domain. In Kenya, a bat attitude questionnaire was presented to 394 people living around the Arabuko-Sokoke forest. Bat Conservation International 2023. In northern Guiana, Bat Mountain is the home of killer bats, and there is also a killer bat in folklore from Venezuela. They have wings and fly like birds (actually, in many ways better than birds). IntechOpen Limited Commentdocument.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "a5fde012108c6f81a46adcd8fa31b17e" );document.getElementById("ebd2ec4c6f").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); Gordon is an ecologist with two degrees from Exeter University. By making research easy to access, and puts the academic needs of the researchers before the business interests of publishers. Microchiroptera Cheiromeles torquatus is eaten in Borneo and Tadarida sp. Vampire bats were not discovered until the 16th century in Central and South America. Bat Myths and Folktales from Around the World. 620 B.C. 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]. Becoming neither one thing nor the other made them ashamed. They called themselves Zotzil uinic (batmen), claiming that their ancestors discovered a stone bat, which they took as their god, and their chief town was named Zinacantlan (=place of the bats) by Nahuatl merchants from Mexico [53]. 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. They are unquestionably weird beings, appearing as half birds and half rodents, as if they came from a nightmare realm. The prominent leaf nose on the snout of this bat strongly suggests an arrowhead. Christianity and the origin of bats are also intertwined in the Mohammedan legend that Christ created a bat while keeping the fast of Ramadan. Because of the resemblance in dentition and such external phenomena as the thoracic position of the mammae, etc., the great Linnaeus himself ended to place the bat along with man in the order Primates [3]. He then pretended to demonstrate exactly how he did this. Having multifaceted anatomy of a lion, hippopotamus, and crocodile, she waited for the opportunity to devour the hearts of The myths grew with the 1927 stage production which further associated Dracula with bats. 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. HUN BATZ In Madurai, worshippers of the Muni god regard Indian Flying Fox Pteropus medius, formerly Pteropus giganteus, as sacred and protect colonies for fear of heavy punishment. The bat serves as mentor of the night and is identified with Talking God, one of the foremost deities. Halloween. The positive side is that by 600 BC., and probably before, humans were learning important things from bats. Until we provoked the animals hostility because of our aggressiveness and disregard for their rights, humans and all creatures lived together in harmony, mutual respect, and helpfulness. African Mythology Adjule. Contact our London head office or media team here. Here are some of them: Flying foxes eat fruit, and this has inevitably brought them into conflict with humans, who grow fruit. Even worse have been the vandalism and wanton destruction of bats and their habitat in North America. From this duality and strangeness evolved a reputation of duplicity and threat, appearing as neither one thing nor the other. They belong to the Order Chiroptera. There are more than 1400 bat species worldwide, and they make up roughly 20% of the worlds extant mammals [6]. It is the largest New World bat with a yard wingspan. In Cameroon, the superstition of the vampire is attached to bats. It is a carnivore, eating birds and other vertebrates, occasionally taking even other species of bats. Orchard owners in Myanmar believe that allowing bats to roost and feed in the garden ensures prosperity and well-being. In China, the bat is a symbol of happiness and good luck and its image is found in art and crafts expressing this. 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. Books > Between 1985 and 1994, they were removed from the protected fauna list in Queensland. 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. ), the ambiguous nature of bats is transformed into duplicity in their character. Bats have fascinated humans for millennia, and this cultural and spiritual relevance is reflected in the presence of bat symbols in Egyptian tombs from 2000 BC . Bats are shot for sport or to eradicate them from fruit plantations. Although they live near humans and are common, it appears that some of the species have not been described and given scientific names [17]. 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. When you stand with us, your donation will support critical bat conservation initiatives. However, in post-Christian Europe, the bats propensity of flying at night led to its association with the devil. This category has the following 7 subcategories, out of 7 total.
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