Vampire Bats

During a sharing session with the medical interns this afternoon, our consultant taught us to be generous in offering a helping hand in hard times.

It brings to mind the fascinating story of vampire bats who, like our medical interns with their pockets full of syringes, feed on blood. Besides, the fact that both vampire bats and medical interns seldom have sleep at night suggests that these two species share more than simply a common ancestor. They look enough alike that I could see they are related.

Time and again, vampire bats have been observed to drink more blood than they would require. Those bats would take the surplus to other hungry bats staying behind. Just in case you didn't know, their generosity seems to extend beyond kinship; they do not share their meals with their offspring only. Whenever a vampire bat fails to find adequate nourishment, it may simply contact another vampire bat to solicit food donation by licking the lips of the potential donor. After observing them over a period of five years, a zoologist professor found (and published in Nature) that bats were far more likely to share gift with those that had fed them in the past, but not with new bats added to the group he was studying.

Some will argue that helping each other with a willful view for a return of the favour in the future can’t be righteous giving. Okay. Let's be honest. The truth is I can tell you that I am no better than those vampire bats.