Bats have few natural enemies because are
able to benefit from space more efficiently than
most predators. Flight and echolocation not only
give bats the ability to benefit from dark sky and
cave but also evolved them life history traits that
enable them to “long live-die late” with the help
of high longevity, delayed maturity, low litter size,
multiple reproductive events and long postnatal
growth (Altrinham 1966). However, there are
predators that can seize bats in caves or in sky. The
most prominent bat predators mentioned in the
scientific literature are owls (Whitaker & Hamilton
1998), hawks, snakes and mammalian carnivores
(Hill & Smith 1984). Predation by reptiles or even
large arthropods is occasionally documented in
the literature (e.g. Molinari et al. 2005, Nyffeler
& Knörnschild 2013). Some colonies of bats may
have over many thousands or millions of bats.
These colonies of bats make available a potential
concentration of food for many different predators
including medium or large sized snakes.
