The Brown Bat's Diet

The brown bat, which is native to areas like northern Virginia, eats several different foods for growth and development, and catches its food in an unconventional way. The bats live in trees, including maple and oak trees, and can be kept as pets when the owner creates an environment that will properly accommodate the animal.

  1. Big Brown Bats

    • The main staple of the big brown bat's diet are beetles. The bats will eat these several times a day, but will also consume moths, flies, dragonflies and flying ants if they are available. When keeping the brown bat as a pet, owners can purchase some of these insects, pre-killed, from the pet store. The bat will also eat katydids, yellowjackets and fireflies.

    Little Brown Bats

    • Little brown bats feed mainly on mosquitoes, and can eat over 1,000 mosquitoes in one night, according to the Oregon State University Fisheries and Wildlife Department. The bats also feed close to the water when possible, and will catch the small insects that live just above the water, such as gnats, as well as insects that live on the shore, including ants.

    Baby Bats

    • Since bats are mammals, they give birth to live young and nurse them. Baby bats eat nothing but their mother's milk for about three weeks. After this, the young bats usually know how to fly, and are able to catch insects on their own for food. Once a baby bat has been weaned, it becomes an insectivore, meaning it will only eat insects in its adult life.

    Echolocation

    • In order for brown bats to find their food, they use echolocation. To do this, the bat sends out sounds that have an extremely high frequency--humans are not able to hear these sounds. The sound bounces of objects, and the bats listen to the echoes to figure out where prey is located, how big the prey is, and how quickly the prey is moving. When a brown bat finds the insects it wants to eat, the prey is caught in the bat's wing.

    Eating Habits

    • Bats are hibernating animals, which means they store fat and energy in their bodies during the warm months. When brown bats hibernate during the winter, they do not eat at all. The food they have eaten in the previous season serves as their sustenance. If the bat wakes up for any reason during hibernation, it will use some of its energy, which can be detrimental to the bat's health. Brown bats can die if they are awakened too many times during hibernation.