Beastly Bats

We think bats have gotten a bit of a bad reputation; most people think they’re scary. Maybe it’s their association with vampires and biting. Maybe it’s the thought that one could easily fly at you and get stuck in your hair. Whatever the reason, it seems unfair, as most bats are content to just fly at night and eat bugs.

Come on, do they look that scary?

There are, however, some bats that do deserve the reputation of scary and creepy. Bats we hope to NEVER come into contact with. We've dug up some examples of the most terrifying, chilling, can't-believe-they're-real bat species. Here are a few of the scariest...

Big-Eared Bat

The giant ears on the big-eared bat almost makes it seem comical, until it comes at you with a wingspan that's the length of your forearm.

Leaf-Nosed Bat

What is going on with this bat's nose? It looks like it exploded! It's a small consolation that the nose of the leaf-nosed bat helps it focus its echo-location calls... a very small consolation.

Bulldog Bat

What is this fearsome things with whiskers? It's the bulldog bat. What makes this species stand out is that it's not content eating insects. Oh no. The bulldog bat can skim water and catch small fish! That's enough to make us never want to go night swimming again.

Flying Fox

This bat gets extra terror points for its size alone. Its body is about as big as a tissue box and its wingspan can get up to almost five feet long! We'll let that sink in for a moment... The flying fox has wings that are the size of a person! If Dracula really does turn into a bat, we bet he's one of these.

A few more scary bat facts:
- They are eating machines that can consume almost 50% of their body weight.
- They are almost everyone. Bats are in every non-extreme ecosystem in every part of the world.
- Bat colonies are large, and in the biggest colonies can include tens of millions of bats.