Page 42 - World of Animals - Issue #39

ANIMAL

M
Y
MYTHS
TH
S

Myths about animals have popped up since the
M y t h s a b o u t a n i m a l s h a v e p o p p e d u p s i n c e t he
beginning of civilisation with tales that make us
beginning of civilisation with tales that make us
fear certain species that actually pose no threat
fear certain species that actually pose no threat
Black cats are an
Toads give omen of bad luck
you warts 5,000 years ago in Ancient Egypt cats
Just because they have bumpy were highly revered and to kill one was a
skin themselves doesn’t mean capital crime. But by the Middle Ages cats,
a toad can give you warts. The especially black ones, were associated with
origin of this myth is unknown, the idea of witchcraft. Hysteria surrounding
but we now know that warts black magic fuelled all sorts of strange
are caused by a group of rumours, and in certain areas people
viruses called the human believed witches could turn into black cats
papillomavirus (HPV). Warts at night. In reality, of course, cats can be
are then spread from human all-black because of the pigment melanin –
to human by touch, and the it’s actually just a mutation.
viruses can even live a short
time on inanimate objects. The
body usually gets to work on
the wart quickly and destroys
it before the virus can do any
real damage.
Bats suck your blood
Over 70 per cent of the globe’s population of bats
feed exclusively on insects, and in fact only three out
of 1,250 species feast on blood. There are three species
of vampire bat native to Central and South America,
and they drink the blood of birds and mammals. Each
species has its favourite target to prevent competing
with the other vampire bat but even these don’t ‘suck’

blood. The flying mammals make an incision with the
sharp teeth, and lap at the flow of blood from cattle

and chickens but very rarely bite humans.
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