They are dirty, suck blood and fly into your hair - yet all these bad attributes are old wives' tales. Bats are clean. South America has only three species of bats that suck blood but only from animals or birds. First a fear of the unknown and second to European fairy tales.
Bats come out at night to hunt.
Humans have always been afraid of the dark. Also, the Dracula stories were written before these species were discovered. Too many people are still unaware of their advantages to the environment, people and agriculture. Seven of the local species are fruit eaters. The other species literally eat thousands of tons of gnats, midges and mosquitoes each night.