Speaking of click bait . . .

As if we don’t have enough things to worry about these days, now we’re getting word that hairy-legged vampire bats have been turning their attention to humans for blood.

The story is on the Daily Mail site as well as the Toronto Sun site, and God, er, Dracula only knows how many other sites are picking it up.

The news comes out of Brazil, where the little critters normally have been knocking back the blood of wild birds — their sole source of food, apparently. But with the decline of wild birds — no doubt, thanks to humans destroying their habitats — the vampire bats may have turned to humans for dinner, sneaking into people’s homes and dining on them while they sleep, or getting at them outside.

According to Wikipedia, there are three species of vampire bats whose food source is blood, and all three of them are native to the Americas, “ranging from Mexico to Brazil, Chile, Uruguay and Argentina.” The so-called common vampire bat — common? OMG! — is known to consume human blood at times, but the aforementioned hairy-legged critter and white-winged vampire bat were thought to feed only on birds.

Not so, according to the Daily Mail writer.

So, if a common vampire bat wasn’t scary enough, now we have the hairy-legged version with which to contend.

Of course, I needn’t worry, right? After all, I live in a Quebec forest — and bats in eastern Canada are insectivores. So, the bats living in my home’s attic won’t be interested in my blood, right?

Naw . . .

But then again, the hairy-legged vampire bats didn’t drink human blood before. Now they do.

Hmm . . .

Did I mention that I’m always on the alert for bats that might get tangled in my hair when I’m outside on the deck and they come swooping out of my attic at dusk on warm summer nights? Yes, I know it’s an old wives tale — but I’m still careful.

But now, bats with hairy legs sucking human blood . . . OMG!

–– Jillian

Photo: Isn’t he (or she) cute? This little guy (or gal) is a hairy-legged vampire bat, Diphylla ecaudata, captured in Mexico. Source: Gerry Carter/Wikimedia Commons