Are bats more a predator or a prey?

About seventy percent of bats are insectivores and would be considered primarily predators. Most of the rest are frugivores, or fruit eaters and would only be prey if you had to choose. A few species such as the Fish-eating Bat feed from animals other than insects, with the vampire bats being the only mammalian parasite species. These other bats would also fall into the predator category. Note that while nocturnal Birds of Prey and snakes will eat bats if given the opportunity, when it comes to natural predators, bats really aren't threatened by them to an extreme. The fact that bats are very fast in flight and they are also going to live in some out of the way locations means that they are often overlooked by predators. Mostly they die from disease, injury, old age, and human activities.

The biggest predator of bats are humans. Most people are afraid of bats and view them as a type of rodent. They don't like they idea of these creatures living in their trees, attic, or other locations. The fact that a bat colony can very rapidly grow is another reason for concern. They like safely in numbers but that isn't something that people want to have around them.

The risk of some type of disease being spread from bats also worry people. They hear about rabies and other health problems that are possible. They also worry about the effects from bat urine and feces that have been left behind. Traps are often set to dispose of bats.

Bats often live in caves and that is a common form of exploration for humans. By clearing out the bats they can use that for a recreational area or other type of fun setting. Many researchers though feel that no matter where bats try to live there are going to be humans that have the ability to get rid of large numbers of them.