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Bats account for 20% of mammal species.
But how often do you see one, and how many kinds can you name?
So, if you look at what's common here...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_Devil
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chupacabra
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampires
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Heeled_Jack
www.google.com/search
(there are more, the more you look)
There's a lot in common.
Taken collectively, what emerges is basically a really large, very shy bat (or glider) that prefers to drink blood from large sleeping mammals.
As human settlement expanded, the normal blood source animals were probably hunted out and replaced with smaller livestock species.
This and changes to weather and other factors may have brought the bats hesitantly into direct contact with humans. There are probably a few rare or extinct megafauna yet to be discovered, considering the rate at which we have been able to document the recent demise of mastadons, moas, stegadons, etc. As long as we feel we shouldn't be shocked by things like the tiny hominins of Flores or the half-rat-half-squirrel thing they found in western China, a really big vampire bat shouldn't be out of the question.
I expect that the domed head mistaken for a helmet or bare skull would be useful to an oversized bat due to the greater hazards of falling,
which could also explain why leaping may be observed more often than actual flight. The glowing red eyes are what we see on many night-time predators when they are illuminated. There may be a whitish underbelly and possibly a marsupial pouch, consistent with the described abdominal bloating sometimes described, and also with the look of some marsupial noses that have a split more conspicuous than the nostrils (may look like one nostril).
If the creature is generally unaggressive, it may prefer to strike with the backs of its claws, which would otherwise be used for climbing or clinging; back-swats won't kill animals they may want to feed on later, and won't kill others of their own kind or animals easily confused with their own kind, such as large primates.
Fur on the back may appear spiky, and standing on two clawed toes may look like cloven hooves or raised heels.
A glider design could explain the irregularity of possible cape/wing descriptions and would fit with the marsupial idea.
I have also begun to wonder whether the Lithuanian Plague could have been in some way related either to a disease spread by these critters, by people being bitten in their sleep and injected with paralyzing/anticoagulant chemicals, and/or by humans consuming milk/meat/blood of animals injected with such chemicals. The livestock could either become resistant, or there could be another mechanism, such as movement of the chemical to concentration in the liver/kidneys. Known strains of vampire bats have anticoagulant saliva, and the platypus actually produces venom, so it's not a big stretch for me to think that a large mammal could produce something like what leeches or mosquitoes produce. Victims could appear dead, but 'pink and plump', either recovering after a few days or not.
(In order to avoid burying them alive, drive a spike through the heart and/or decapitate them first)
Consider...
1) elongated chin/ horse or doglike head/face with domed/egg-shaped top
2) comparisons to kangaroo in manner of movement
3)' bloating' (in comparison to human shape)
4) possible ruddiness or red hair, otherwise, dark back, light front
5) does not tend to stand on its heels
6) long nails or claws; 'cold', as would be consistent with hard, thick nail material used for climbing or hanging or digging, does not normally scratch.
7) drinks blood- apparently preferring livestock, which are normally not killed, but may be paralyzed or sedated
8) does not speak (important to Spring Heeled Jack and Monkey Man reports), but has a human-sounding call which sounds like laughing or sobbing (see also La Llorona if you care)
9) reacts to mirrors much as would any shy wild animal to seeing its reflection for the first time
10) may be confused or discouraged by hanging of some aromatic plants
11) seems to 'teleport' or 'walk through walls', possibly passing easily through very small windows, as probably would any elusive cave-dweller or something that sleeps in a hollow tree. Comparatively large brain size and long lifespan might facilitate it in finding
unobvious routes into barns and houses to feed, as well as cemetery crypts (to sleep during the day).
12) may at times produce froth or vapor from the mouth
But how often do you see one, and how many kinds can you name?
So, if you look at what's common here...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_Devil
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chupacabra
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampires
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Heeled_Jack
www.google.com/search
(there are more, the more you look)
There's a lot in common.
Taken collectively, what emerges is basically a really large, very shy bat (or glider) that prefers to drink blood from large sleeping mammals.
As human settlement expanded, the normal blood source animals were probably hunted out and replaced with smaller livestock species.
This and changes to weather and other factors may have brought the bats hesitantly into direct contact with humans. There are probably a few rare or extinct megafauna yet to be discovered, considering the rate at which we have been able to document the recent demise of mastadons, moas, stegadons, etc. As long as we feel we shouldn't be shocked by things like the tiny hominins of Flores or the half-rat-half-squirrel thing they found in western China, a really big vampire bat shouldn't be out of the question.
I expect that the domed head mistaken for a helmet or bare skull would be useful to an oversized bat due to the greater hazards of falling,
which could also explain why leaping may be observed more often than actual flight. The glowing red eyes are what we see on many night-time predators when they are illuminated. There may be a whitish underbelly and possibly a marsupial pouch, consistent with the described abdominal bloating sometimes described, and also with the look of some marsupial noses that have a split more conspicuous than the nostrils (may look like one nostril).
If the creature is generally unaggressive, it may prefer to strike with the backs of its claws, which would otherwise be used for climbing or clinging; back-swats won't kill animals they may want to feed on later, and won't kill others of their own kind or animals easily confused with their own kind, such as large primates.
Fur on the back may appear spiky, and standing on two clawed toes may look like cloven hooves or raised heels.
A glider design could explain the irregularity of possible cape/wing descriptions and would fit with the marsupial idea.
I have also begun to wonder whether the Lithuanian Plague could have been in some way related either to a disease spread by these critters, by people being bitten in their sleep and injected with paralyzing/anticoagulant chemicals, and/or by humans consuming milk/meat/blood of animals injected with such chemicals. The livestock could either become resistant, or there could be another mechanism, such as movement of the chemical to concentration in the liver/kidneys. Known strains of vampire bats have anticoagulant saliva, and the platypus actually produces venom, so it's not a big stretch for me to think that a large mammal could produce something like what leeches or mosquitoes produce. Victims could appear dead, but 'pink and plump', either recovering after a few days or not.
(In order to avoid burying them alive, drive a spike through the heart and/or decapitate them first)
Consider...
1) elongated chin/ horse or doglike head/face with domed/egg-shaped top
2) comparisons to kangaroo in manner of movement
3)' bloating' (in comparison to human shape)
4) possible ruddiness or red hair, otherwise, dark back, light front
5) does not tend to stand on its heels
6) long nails or claws; 'cold', as would be consistent with hard, thick nail material used for climbing or hanging or digging, does not normally scratch.
7) drinks blood- apparently preferring livestock, which are normally not killed, but may be paralyzed or sedated
8) does not speak (important to Spring Heeled Jack and Monkey Man reports), but has a human-sounding call which sounds like laughing or sobbing (see also La Llorona if you care)
9) reacts to mirrors much as would any shy wild animal to seeing its reflection for the first time
10) may be confused or discouraged by hanging of some aromatic plants
11) seems to 'teleport' or 'walk through walls', possibly passing easily through very small windows, as probably would any elusive cave-dweller or something that sleeps in a hollow tree. Comparatively large brain size and long lifespan might facilitate it in finding
unobvious routes into barns and houses to feed, as well as cemetery crypts (to sleep during the day).
12) may at times produce froth or vapor from the mouth
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Colombia
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