Vampire Bats, Mosquitoes and Other Blood Sucking Animals

What's Eating You Right Now?

Vampire bats are making news! Via MSNBC, the Associated Press reports an outbreak of rabies in several Venezuelan villages inhabited by Warao Indians. The rabies symptoms - such as the now famous rabies fear of water - are traced back to the bite of an infected vampire bat and the death toll is steadily rising. In the last 13 months more than 38 Warao Indians have died from rabies.

While vampire bats make for headlines, there are other blood sucking animals that are a lot closer to home, some of which also cause disease.

Are You Familiar With Culiseta Longiareolata?

I bet you are! Behind the name hides the common mosquito that is a plague of sometimes biblical proportions. California is a hotbed of mosquito activity and the odds are good that where you are located you most likely also have to deal with the pesky critters. In this instance it is the female that does the blood sucking.

Worst of all, since female mosquitoes only suck blood when they are breeding, you know that all those itchy, red bumps on your arms, leg, back and even neck hail the propagation of the species. You might actually call yourself a godmother or godfather to a whole new generation!

Is Cimex lectularius A Guest in Your Home?

You might not think so but you are quite possibly offering him a bed on a nightly basis! Known as the bedbug, this critter can survive without blood for about 18 months if needed, but it prefers to pump you for some sustenance at least once every week. If you are around poultry a lot, there is a good chance that you might be bringing home some hangers on from there. According to the National Geographic, there has been a 500% increase in the American bedbug population over the course of the last 12 years.

What's Eating You?

Mosquitoes, bedbugs, vampire bats, and a host of other blood sucking creatures are most likely eating you as you read this. Well, perhaps not the vampire bats. California is suffering under a deluge of mosquitoes right now, and it is has been thought that the sudden rise in the number of abandoned homes with water filled pools that are slowly turning brackish is contributing to their rapid spread.