Scientists tagged bats to keep track of them.
Scientists tagged bats to keep track of them.

Sick Bats Stay Apart!

Experts find that vampire bats social distance when sick.

What did one bat say to another?
Let’s hang around together... but not if you’re sick!

People have gotten used to spreading out this year. They’ve stayed apart to slow the spread of the coronavirus. This is called social distancing. And scientists just discovered that sick vampire bats do it too!

Simon Ripperger led the study in Lamanai, Belize. He has studied bats a lot in the past. The expert has a message for anyone who thinks bats are frightful flyers. “Bats are not scary!” he told News-O-Matic. “They are interesting animals.” Ripperger and his team already knew that sickness led to fewer social in the bats. They wanted to make sure this was true in the wild though. The experts released a report about this on Tuesday.

Ripperger and his team caught 31 vampire bats. The experts made half of these bats feel sick by giving them a drug that affected their . The shot didn’t actually give the bats a disease. The team gave the other bats a shot that did not affect them.

Then, the scientists put trackers on the bats and released the animals. The researchers tracked the bats’ movements for three days. They noticed that the “sick” bats spent time with fewer groupmates. “Sick” bats also stayed away from those that were healthy.

Usually, vampire bats are social. “They groom each other,” Ripperger said. “They even share their meals!” However, if one is sick, it becomes antisocial. That means it spends less time with other bats. And it’s less likely to pass a disease along.

Ripperger said we can learn from these bats. Just as a disease goes from bat to bat, the coronavirus moves from person to person. “How we behave influences how a disease ,” the expert said. “Understanding social behavior is for understanding how diseases work.”

Ripperger thinks bats are important, but he doesn’t think you should try to catch one. “Bats are tiny, but they are still wild animals,” the expert shared. He said you shouldn’t pick up a bat if you find one. Bats can carry diseases such as the coronavirus. So, like a sick vampire bat, it is probably best to keep your distance!

Updated October 29, 2020, 5:02 P.M. (ET)
By Alexa Tirapelli

Sick Bats Stay Apart!

Experts find that vampire bats social distance when sick.

Scientists tagged bats to keep track of them.
Scientists tagged bats to keep track of them.

What did one bat say to another?
Let’s hang around together... but not if you’re sick!

People have gotten used to spreading out this year. They’ve stayed apart to slow the spread of the coronavirus. This is called social distancing. And scientists just discovered that sick vampire bats do it too!

Simon Ripperger led the study in Lamanai, Belize. He has studied bats a lot in the past. The expert has a message for anyone who thinks bats are frightful flyers. “Bats are not scary!” he told News-O-Matic. “They are interesting animals.” Ripperger and his team already knew that sickness led to fewer social in the bats. They wanted to make sure this was true in the wild though. The experts released a report about this on Tuesday.

Ripperger and his team caught 31 vampire bats. The experts made half of these bats feel sick by giving them a drug that affected their . The shot didn’t actually give the bats a disease. The team gave the other bats a shot that did not affect them.

Then, the scientists put trackers on the bats and released the animals. The researchers tracked the bats’ movements for three days. They noticed that the “sick” bats spent time with fewer groupmates. “Sick” bats also stayed away from those that were healthy.

Usually, vampire bats are social. “They groom each other,” Ripperger said. “They even share their meals!” However, if one is sick, it becomes antisocial. That means it spends less time with other bats. And it’s less likely to pass a disease along.

Ripperger said we can learn from these bats. Just as a disease goes from bat to bat, the coronavirus moves from person to person. “How we behave influences how a disease ,” the expert said. “Understanding social behavior is for understanding how diseases work.”

Ripperger thinks bats are important, but he doesn’t think you should try to catch one. “Bats are tiny, but they are still wild animals,” the expert shared. He said you shouldn’t pick up a bat if you find one. Bats can carry diseases such as the coronavirus. So, like a sick vampire bat, it is probably best to keep your distance!

Updated October 29, 2020, 5:02 P.M. (ET)
By Alexa Tirapelli

Draw it AskRuss