VAMPIRE BAT MATH

How many vampire bats would it take to kill a human? The thread nobody asked for but everyone is getting anyway.

(HINT: it will probably never, ever happen) 1/

#bats #lovebats #savethebats #dracula #iwanttosuckyourblood #neckbite #blood

There are 1400+ species of bat. Of those, only 3 species are sanguivorous (blood consuming), but movies & pop culture has done a fantastic job of making the general public chiropterphobic, convincing us that bats will bleed us dry given the chance. 2/

#bats

Contrary to popular belief, vampire bats do not SUCK blood. Rather, they use their scalpel-sharp, tiny front incisors (not their canines) to create a bowl shaped wound that fills with blood which they then gently lap up. 3/

#bats

A vampire bat’s body is 8-10 cm long (3.15-3.9 in) & they will drink about 1/2 their bodyweight in blood per 20 minute feed. They weigh about 40 grams, so 20 grams of blood (1 fl oz) is consumed. Put another way: 2 tablespoons of blood. 4/

#bats

A human can only lose up to 40% of its blood before their body can no longer compensate for the loss. This means that an 80 kg/175 lb human adult would have to lose about 2.2 L, so let’s crunch some numbers. 5/

#bats

2.2 L of blood equals about 150 tablespoons, divided by 2 tablespoons is 75 fl oz, and at 1 fl oz per bat: IT WOULD TAKE 75 VAMPIRE BATS FEEDING AT ONCE TO KILL AN ADULT HUMAN. 6/

#bats

The likelihood of this happening is slim to freaking none (one can’t ever rule something out completely, of course). But, just for funzies, how much to *completely* exsanguinate a human? Let’s see. 7/

#bats

There are about 5 L in the average human adult, or 338 tablespoons. Divided by 2 tablespoons, that gives us 169 fl oz, which means it would take 169 vampire bats 20 minutes to lap up every drop of blood from a human body. 8/

#bats

SO. Math and a bit of scientific knowledge have shown the absurdity of “I vaaant to suuuck your blooood.” I hope that this thread helps dispel that silliness. Please be sure to share with friends and family, and with that...

...I shall take my leave. 9/9

#bats #lovebats