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It’s a variation of a common Halloween tale of the vampire bat, and one that strikes fear into many people. The problem: There are no vampire bats in Minnesota. There aren’t even any in North America. Minnesotans’ necks are safe.
Spiders and black cats also get a bad rap when Halloween rolls around. People hear about poisonous spiders lurking in dark corners and fear black cats spreading bad luck to every person whose path they cross.
These three animals are the source of many Halloween fears, but myths bolster those reputations far more than facts. There’s nothing too spooky about bats, black cats and spiders, after all.
Myth: Bats are rabies-carrying creatures of the night intent on biting people.
Truth: Very few bats carry rabies, despite the discovery of two such bats in August in Winona. Less than 1 percent carry rabies, according to information from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
“The idea that all or most bats have rabies is totally a lie,” said Dave Palmquist, naturalist at Whitewater State Park. “It’s much, much rarer than lots of people think.”
Bat bites are also a rarity. Since a slight surge of such incidents in August, when “a bunch of adolescent bats were just starting to fly,” local health officials have not treated anyone else for bites, said Dr. Terry Donnal, medical director of Winona Health Urgent Care.
What some people interpret as a bat’s attempt to attack them is likely just part of their nightly quest for an insect meal, Palmquist said. All bats in this area feast on insects, and those tasty treats are often near humans.
“We’ve all had bats kind of swoop by us,” Palmquist said, explaining that the animals were likely just flying nearby in pursuit of a bug meal and the swoop was part of some “last-minute maneuvering.”
In reality, bats are beneficial as insect eaters and pollinators — the original banana was pollinated by bats — easily outweigh the few bat bites registered locally each year, Palmquist said.
Myth: Poisonous spiders are hiding in the creepy, crawly nooks of local homes, ready to strike.
Truth: There are more than 35,000 species of poisonous spiders. None inhabit the Winona area.
“We don’t have any obviously toxic spiders here,” said Robin Richardson, biology professor at Winona State University.
Instead, the spiders showing up in local homes are non-toxic and very intent on snagging insects in their webs, she said. This ability is so prized that, in Mexico, families bring in spiders to fight cockroach infestations — and name their eight-legged accomplices.
“They’re the family pets,” Richardson said.
Spider bites are also rare, Donnal said. Sometimes people wake up in the morning, see a small, red spot on their skin and assume it was the work of a hungry spider, but that’s rarely the case, he said.
Winonans don’t have to name their spiders, but there’s no reason to fear them, Richardson said.
Myth: Black cats bring bad luck to all those who cross their paths.
Truth: Bad luck is hard to measure, but that has not prevented groups of people throughout history from viewing their four-legged felines unfavorably.
Reports of black cats being associated with witches, and thus vilified, date as far back as the 12th century. When different cultures turned against women they called witches and put them to death, the woman’s black cats were also killed alongside their owners.
Bias against black cats leads many animal agencies across the country to prohibit black cat adoptions around Halloween. In fact, the Winona Area Humane Society won’t allow black cat adoptions through Tuesday, though residents can still fill out the adoption paperwork this week, said vice president Deborah Stowe.
Winona police officials cannot recall any criminal incidents involving the cats around Halloween, said Deputy Chief Paul Bostrack, and the Humane Society’s policy is mainly precautionary, Stowe said.
“Unfortunately, there are mean people out there that didn’t finish history class and find out there are no witches and that black cats don’t mean bad luck,” she said.
Superstition makes finding black cats a home difficult any time of the year. The Humane Society now has about 15 it’s having trouble adopting out, Stowe said.
