We think… bats & owls as bad omen. But what is it about bats & owls that make people associate them with evil? One trait these creatures share is a preference for darkness. Consider the bat, which has long been associated with the darker side of our subconscious. Because bats appear only at night and vanish during the day, it was believed that bats were the souls of sleeping people. Likewise, depictions of the devil customarily feature Bat-like wings & ears. Since bats often dwell in caves, people commonly associate them with the underworld. As for the connection between bats and vampires, experts trace it to an ancient Asian myth involving night spirits that feed upon the blood of sleeping victims. True vampire bats exist only in the American tropics and were not described in scientific literature until 1810. The first literary work in which a vampire transforms into a bat and flies at night in search of human victims was Bram Stoker's "Dracula," published in 1897. Owls, too, are also generally associated with death and the underworld because of their nocturnal habits. The most widespread species, the Barn Owl, with its ghostly appearance and blood-curdling shriek, is considered a bad omen in cultures throughout the world. Several African cultures depict owls as spirits of the dead and as omens that foretell the death of anyone who sees them. One notable exception is the Inuit belief that the Snowy Owl is a good omen. Perhaps the reason for this unusually positive view of an owl is that the Snowy Owl is a daytime creature. Diurnal activity is a necessity for this owl: it lives above the Arctic Circle.