Fear of bats

Fear of bats, sometimes called chiroptophobia (an incorrect derivation from the order Chiroptera of bats) may refer both to a specific phobia associated with bats and to common negative stereotypes and fear of bats stemming from prejudices and misinformation.

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Roots and misconceptions

Bats, being nocturnal animals, are associated with various dangers and fears of darkness, with the centuries of prejudices and accompanying myths of Dracula, Halloween, witches, etc. In Christian Europe night-flying bats became associated with the devil, and many medieval paintings depict the devil with bat's wings.

  Contrary to a widespread misconception, only 3 species of bats feed on blood, none of which have been known to feed on human blood, and they only live in Latin America. Common ignorance often leads to misidentification. Merlin Tuttle in his book describes various cases ranging from an owl defending its nest to a person scratching his arm by an obstacle when yanking it in fright and subsequently getting inoculated against a "rabid bat" bite.

At the same time, the fear of bats may be naturally reinforced by the natural startle response experienced by an unsuspecting person, e.g., when a disturbed colony of bats dashes out of a cave.

Often, people fear bats due to the possibility of contracting rabies, but only 0.5% of all bats carry rabies. However, bats, even sick ones, only bite in defense and therefore should be left undisturbed. If you should find a bat in your house or dwelling, the best way to get rid of it is to open all windows (and doors) leading outside while sealing off entrances to the rest of the house and let it leave on its own.

Dangers

The very fear of bats may present a higher danger than bats themselves: numerous people have broken their legs falling off ladders or tripping over logs while escaping from "vicious bats".

Another real danger of the fear of bats is mass killings of bats and destruction of bat roosts, which leads to decline in population of these beneficial insect-eating and pollinating animals that are an important part of the ecosystem.

Combatting fear of bats is possible via appropriate education of children and adults alike about bats, as well proper handling of real nuisances that bats might present.

Phobia

As it is common with specific phobias, an occasional fright may give rise to abnormal anxiety that requires treatment. An abnormal fear of bats may be treated by any standard treatment for specific phobias.

In Popular Culture

Bruce Wayne, better known as Batman has chiroptophobia, stemming from an incident involving bats in his youth, as shown in the movie Batman Begins, but not in the comics.

References

• Merlin D. Tuttle, America's Neighborhood Bats (1988: ISBN 0-292-70403-8) (2005: ISBN 0-9742379-1-4, ISBN 0-292-71280-4)