Psst! Hey you!

There’s food over here!

That’s what one vampire bat might whisper to another . . . if vampire bats could whisper, of course.

The two land together on the back of a cow on a pitch-black night. Each takes a little bite of the cow. They don’t suck blood like imaginary monster vampires in stories. They just lap it up from the tiny hole they make with their teeth.

In just one feeding, a vampire bat can double its weight. And if it goes just two days without eating, it will die. Good thing vampire bats help each other find food! They seem to know by instinct what the writer of Ecclesiastes knew: “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10) In a pinch, well-fed vampire bats will even regurgitate food to share with a starving neighbor. These bats even seem to keep track of others that have helped them in the past.

Vampire bats live in Mexico and Central and South America. When feeding time arrives, they search for horses, cows, pigs, or birds. Do they bite humans? Yes. But only very rarely.

 Why do you think God made these little, blood-loving varmints? We have one idea. Vampire bats carry a particular chemical in their saliva (spit). It keeps blood from clotting. This helps them drink blood.

People need their blood to clot so their wounds can heal. But too much clotting in the body can keep oxygen from getting to the heart, lungs, or brain.

Scientists studied this chemical. They used it to make medicine for people with harmful blood clots. See God’s good provision—even through the vampire bat!