Gabrielle Marks | Reviewed: 6/13/2025
Do Bats Eat Mice?
Answer at a Glance: Carnivorous bats eat mice. They also feed on tasty treats such as frogs, birds, fish, and even other bats.
More Info: Unless you live in a tropical region, don’t expect the bats in your backyard to tackle your rodent problem. Fewer than one percent of bat species are carnivorous. [1] Now, if you have an insect problem, that’s another story. Most bat species are insectivores that feed on a variety of insects, including moths, gnats, flies, crickets, and even wasps, which are active at night. One small bat can eat up to 1,000+ small insects in one hour! Furthermore, a nursing mother bat eats four times that amount! [2]
Dig Deeper
- What Carnivorous Bats Eat
- Carnivorous Bat Species That Eat Mice
- More Carnivorous Bats
- What Carnivorous Bats Have In Common
- Resources
What Carnivorous Bats Eat
Carnivorous bats eat a variety of prey, including mice, birds, frogs, fish, and even other bats. The false vampire bat, for instance, feeds on rodents, insects, and spiders. The frog-eating bat eats, you guessed it, frogs. These bats can eat up to 40 frogs in a single day. [3] The vampire bat is the only mammal that feeds solely on blood. Cows and horses are their primary prey, but these bats have been known to feed on humans. The bat’s bite is not deadly, but it can carry infections and diseases. [4]
Like their insectivorous kin, carnivorous bats share the ability to capture prey in continuous flight. However, they also exhibit a unique behavior of sitting in wait and ambushing their prey from the ground, adding an element of surprise to their feeding habits. [5]
Another interesting fact about the diet of a carnivorous bat is that all carnivorous bats are osteophagous. These bats eat the bones of their prey along with the soft tissue! [6]
Carnivorous Bat Species That Eat Mice
The largest group of carnivorous bats that eat mice and other small vertebrates belong to the species known collectively as false vampire bats. These bats, which are thought to be monogamous for life, roost together and have a global presence, with several different species found worldwide. [7]
African False Vampire Bat (Cardioderma cor) is found in East Africa.
Asian False Vampire Bat (Megaderma lyra and M. spasma) can be found in eastern Pakistan, India, southeastern China, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
Australian Giant False Vampire Bat (Macroderma gigas) is native to Australia and New Guinea and is the largest of the Old World bats.
Linnaeus’s False Vampire Bat (Vampyrum spectrum) lives primarily in Central and South America. This species is the largest bat species in the New World.
More Carnivorous Bats
Large Slit-Faced Bats (Nycteris grandis) are another carnivorous bat species that eat small invertebrates, such as mice. These bats are found throughout central and southern Africa. These bats are opportunistic feeders preying on whatever food is available at any given time. [8]
Greater Spear-Nosed Bat (Phyllostomus hastatus) is primarily an insectivore but will eat small vertebrates, including mice, birds, and other bats. This bat species is native to Central and South America. [9]
What Carnivorous Bats Have in Common
Carnivorous bats are physically distinct from their insectivorous counterparts. They tend to be larger, with longer snouts that are specifically adapted to manage larger prey. [10]
References
- [1] [3] [7] French, Barbara. “False Vampires and Other Carnivores.” BATS Magazine 15.2 (1997): 1. Print.
- [2] United States Department of Agriculture – “Calculate the Value of Bats.”
- [4] Texas Tech University – Natural Science Research Laboratory – “Vampire Bats – The Good, The Bad, and The Amazing.”
- [5] Stidsholt, Laura, et al. “Echolocating bats prefer a high risk-high gain foraging strategy to increase prey profitability.” eLife vol. 12 e84190. 18 Apr. 2023, doi:10.7554/eLife.84190
- [6] Santana, Sharlene E., and Elena Cheung. “Go Big or Go Fish: Morphological Specializations in Carnivorous Bats.” Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, vol. 283, no. 1830, 11 May 2016, p. 20160615, https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.0615.
- [8] Encyclopedia.com – “Slit-Faced Bats: Nycteridae.”
- [9] [10] Berkovitz, Barry. “The Teeth of Mammalian Vertebrates.” Academic Press. 2018.
Related Products
Bat House for Outdoors – 2 Large Chambers Bat Box for Outside & Tree – Black
Bats are vital as pollinators & seed dispensers, which makes them crucial for our ecosystems and functional economic agricultures. Set up a bat house to support these versatile creatures.