Vampire bats really do drink blood. They feed on the blood of birds, cattle, horses, and pigs ... and the occasional sleeping human.

They need to consume a few tablespoons of blood every day. If the vampire bat doesn't eat for more than a few days it will starve. They can only be found in Central and South America.

Irish writer of horror tales Bram Stoker was so fascinated by these bats that drink blood, that he incorporated them in his book 'Dracula.'

I was quite suprised....

this is pretty old news, but it is interesting to hear a mammal drinking other animal's blood even though there are insects like fleas, female mosquitos etc that still drink blood, and don't forget those leeches, *does the 'fist'*

Well, I always thought this was rather common knowledge. Alot of things drink blood as is mentioned in the previous post.

There are also humans that need to drink blood, I believe. It is a rare disease I think similar to rabies.

None the less it is a rather frightening prospect, that of drinking blood. I wouldn't want my blood sucked by some pussy *bottom* bat.

That disease (if there is any) is definitely not similar to rabies. I know it is a medical state or condition where a person might drink blood but I am sure whether they have qualified it as a disease.

Mostly it is a lack of a certain nutrient found in blood. I heard of a case on Discovery channel that a person was lacking Iron in his blood and he would drink human blood to feel normal or better. Then there was a case of a "human vampire" where a person would have to drink blood, it was like needed for his body to function according to him. He was a self-proclaimed Vampire and was following vampire-inspired fashion and various other things. His girlfriend was the blood donor and he even agreed without any problems to have his body and mental state diagnosed to see if there was any scientific reason available for his need for blood which turned out there wasn't any!

Yeah, I saw it on the discovery channel too!

However it was a long time ago. I apologise for the misconception concerning rabies.