Bat saliva has an enzyme that may help prevent brain damage in stroke victims.
By Regina Nuzzo
Special to The Times
Los Angeles Times — Health Section
October 30, 2006
JUST for the record, vampire bats don’t suck. They lap.
Under the cover of darkness, the mouse-sized Desmodus rotundus flies out from rocky caves to find a sleeping horse or cow. Its razor-sharp incisors carve out a tidy crater of flesh, no bigger than a Halloween M&M, usually without waking its prey.
Then, perched over the welling wound, the vampire bat laps up about a tablespoon of blood — its sole source of nourishment — with a delicate, bright-pink tongue.
Normally, wounds like these would start to heal within minutes. But dinnertime for a vampire bat lasts as long as half an hour. Its saliva contains a special enzyme that immediately liquefies blood clots, keeping the vampire bat’s meal smooth and fresh.
