{"id":18498,"date":"2012-09-24T06:01:12","date_gmt":"2012-09-24T11:01:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/?p=18498"},"modified":"2013-11-15T14:56:43","modified_gmt":"2013-11-15T20:56:43","slug":"vampire-bats-are-not-in-texas-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2012\/09\/24\/vampire-bats-are-not-in-texas-yet\/","title":{"rendered":"No, Vampire Bats are Not in Texas. Yet."},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo courtesy of DiveOfficer: www.flickr.com\/photos\/diveofficer\/<\/p>

If some climate change models are correct, vampire bats might some day move in to Texas.<\/p><\/div>\n

Halloween is more than a month away, but we\u2019re already hearing about vampires.<\/p>\n

Last week, reports that vampire bats bit a man in Central Texas sent shivers down more than a few spines. The attack, as first reported by KSAT in San Antonio<\/a>, allegedly took place during a hunting trip in Johnson City. The man said he and his friends were set upon in their sleep by the creatures, that bite their prey and then lick the blood from the wounds.<\/p>\n

And what reporter can resist a good vampire bat story?<\/p>\n

I know I can\u2019t.<\/p>\n

So, smelling blood, I started making some phone calls. The man who said he was bitten did not return requests for comment, but I did hear from Ron Van Den Bussche<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s a professor of zoology<\/a> at Oklahoma State University, and what he told me punched some holes in the story.<\/p>\n

“My first reaction is \u2026 they\u2019re not vampire bats. It\u2019s a hoax,\u201d Van Den Bussche said.<\/p>\n

Contrary to the claim of that news report, vampire bats are not a \u201csomewhat regular\u201d occurrence in Texas, according to\u00a0Van Den Bussche. In fact, the species that reportedly attacked the camper has never been spotted in the U.S.<\/p>\n

Undaunted, I called another bat expert: Texas State University\u2019s\u00a0Ivan Castro-Arellano<\/a>, a professor of Biology.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now in Texas the animals are not present. I mean we\u2019re absolutely certain about that. There are no vampire bats here in Texas,” he said.<\/p>\n

I was beginning to get the picture: there are no vampire bats in Texas. And no vampire bats means no vampire bat story.<\/p>\n

At least for now.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they advance into Texas, its going to be a very slow and gradual process,” Castro-Arellano added.<\/p>\n

A Looming Bat Invasion?<\/h4>\n

It turns out there\u2019s a chance that vampire bats might, some day, make it to Texas. If they do, it will be because of\u00a0 something that could be more terrifying than tales of the undead: climate change.<\/p>\n

“These animals are essentially very restricted by low temperatures. They cannot survive below ten degrees centigrade,” Castro-Arellano says.<\/p>\n

But if some climate change models <\/a>are correct, and Texas warms up, he believes that vampire bats could slowly spread their range into Texas from Mexico.<\/p>\n

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