Some critters are out for blood. Vampires


Backyard Beast As the sun sets, a vampire lurks in the dark. It buzzes out into the open. It’s spotted a dog moving around. T e vampire felt the dog’s body heat and smelled its breath. T e vampire swoops in and lightly lands on


the dog. T e dog doesn’t even feel it. Quickly, it slips its pointy mouthparts under the dog’s skin. Chemicals in its spit make sure that the dog’s blood doesn’t clot, or stop running. T en this vampire slurps up twice its


weight in blood. Its belly swells and turns red. In seconds, it’s done. It flies of f, leaving the dog with an itchy, red bump. T is vampire is a female mosquito. Most of


the time, she sips nectar when she’s hungry. Now, though, she needs a blood meal. It’s time for her to make eggs. T e iron and protein in blood help her eggs grow. Soon, a new batch of mini vampires will hatch.


a mosquito with a belly full of blood


Got Blood? A bigger vampire lives in a cave along the coast of Peru. It’s a vampire bat. When night falls, it flies out of its cave. It finds penguins snoozing nearby. T e bat flutters to the ground. It crawls on


its belly toward its victim. It squeezes under a sleeping chick. It’s looking for the chick’s leg. T e bat twitches its wrinkly nose. Its nose senses heat from blood flowing just under the chick’s skin. In a flash, the bat sinks two sharp fangs


into the chick. T ey hit a vein. As the blood trickles out of the cuts, the bat laps it up with its tongue. Chemicals in the bat’s saliva keep the blood flowing. T e bat drinks until it’s swallowed its weight in blood. T e chick sleeps through the attack. When


it wakes the next morning, it has cuts on its leg. Blood loss leaves it weak. T e bat feels strong, though. It must drink blood daily to survive. In fact, it’s the only mammal on Earth that lives on a diet of just blood. T ese bats also suck the blood of cows, horses, sea lions, and sometimes even people.


Swimming with Vampires A diff erent kind of vampire lives deep under the sea. It may look the scariest of all. Its body is blood red. Its eyes look like big, milky blue marbles. T in skin flutters like a cape between its eight snaky arms. Hundreds of spikes stick out from under each arm. Meet the vampire squid. Despite its name,


this animal is no bloodsucker. Its meal may be even more frightful, though. Unlike other squids, it doesn’t eat live animals or plants. It dines on the dead. It feasts on the flaky leſt overs of dead animals. It gathers the dead bits in its arms and


glues them together with mucus. T en it pushes the gooey food into its mouth.


6 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORER


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