8 Animals That Suck (Blood)
Team Edward, Team Jacob, and Team Leeches? Probably not. While Hollywood vampiresâespecially those in the Twilight seriesâhave a devoted fan base, real-life bloodsuckers arenât so adored. Transmitters of diseases and often just downright creepy, they prove that drinking blood isnât always sexy. So, sink your teeth into this list of eight animals that vant to drink blood.
Mosquito
These flying insects are all too familiar to most people. Whatâs little known, however, is that only the female mosquito drinks human blood, which is needed in order to make eggs. While mosquitoes are usually just annoyingâthe itchy bump left from a mosquito encounter is a reaction to its salivaâsome unfortunate people find out that mosquitoes can transmit a number of serious diseases, including yellow fever, malaria, filariasis, and dengue. Which is why mosquitoes are considered one of the worldâs deadliest animals.
Flea
This is another pesky but seemingly benign insect that is actually extremely deadlyâas in Black Death deadly. These bloodsuckers are believed to have helped cause the bubonic plague that killed a quarter of Europeâs population during the Middle Ages. As infected rats began to die off, fleas turned to humans for blood, thereby transmitting the disease. And you probably thought fleas were just a problem for Fido.
Bedbug
Sleep tight, donât let the bedbugs bite. This nursery rhyme fails to convey the true nightmare of bedbugs. Sometimes called the âperfect parasite,â these tiny insects feed at night, often while their victim is asleep, and their bites are painless due to an anesthetizing agent. Later, however, the bite often becomes an itchy welt. Fortunately, bedbugs donât transmit diseases. Unfortunately, they can be hard to eliminate.
Oxpecker
Why should insects have all the fun? These African birdsâalso known as tickbirdsâperch on cattle and big-game animals while removing ticks, flies, and maggots from their hostsâ hides. This might seem almost nice, until you find out that the oxpeckers also feed on the blood from the host animalsâ woundsâpreventing the injuries from healing and sometimes creating the wounds themselves.
Vampire Finch
Another bloodthirsty bird, the vampire finch is found on the Galapagos Islands. Though often eating seeds and insects like other finch species, vampire finches also have a taste for blood. Their victim is the booby bird, which surprisingly doesnât seem to mind being a meal. In fact, the booby often sits patiently as a long queue of vampire finches wait to take a drink.
Leech
Although most people avoid these bloodsucking worms, leeches have long been used in the world of medicine. Into the 19th century, leeches were used to âtreatâ such conditions as mental illness, tumors, skin disease, gout, and whooping cough. While those treatments are now discontinued, leeches have found newâand provenâuses in modern medicine. Most notably, leeches are used to restore blood flow to damaged veins after an appendage is reattached or a tissue grafted. So, maybe more people should be on Team Leech.
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Lamprey
These primitive eel-like animals havenât changed much over hundreds of millions of years. But, if it ainât broke, why fix it? Lampreys use their mouthsâwhich are jawless and feature horny teethâto attach themselves to fish. Once in place, the lampreys feed off their hostsâ blood and tissue. Sometimes a lamprey can stay attached to one fish for weeks. Fortunately, lampreys rarely attack humans.
Vampire Bat
This type of bat, of which there are three species, is the only known mammal whose diet is solely based on blood. Although livestock, birds, and reptiles are its typical targets, humans are occasionally its prey. Vampire batsâwhich must feed at least every two daysâuse razor-sharp teeth to make tiny incisions in their victims and then lick the flowing blood. The satiated bats will often regurgitate blood to share with those who are hungry. Who said bloodsuckers were heartless?