**Author details**

bats weigh less than 33 g (**Table 1**). Rest of the numerous species represents less than 5% of each of this material, and bats heavier than 33 g represent only 0.6% of this material. None of the bat species are eaten by all eight European owl species but *Myotis mystacinus* is in the diet of seven out of eight owls, when *P. pipistrellus, M. myotis, M. nattereri, Eptesicus nilssoni* and *Plecotus auratus* are the prey of six owl species (**Table 1**). The heaviest bat species eaten by two owl species is 135 g weighing *Rousettus aegyptiacus* which is illustrated in **Figure 1** as a prey

**Figure 1.** Eagle Owl has brought to its nest a *Rousettus aegyptiacus ♀* with a sucking baby still alive when photo was taken

in 2008. Courtesy of Ezra Hadad/prof. Motti Charter, Haifa, Israel.

Bats are captured by owls probably mainly during the periods of emergence or return from roosts, but owls are in general not well adapted for catching bats. An interesting calculation from the UK shows that the predation of birds (mainly owls) would account for about 11% of the annual mortality of bats despite the apparent low representation of bats in the diets of predatory birds [11]. Owls are regulated by the availability of their food, more bats there are in the territory more they can harvest, explaining why the bat predation is higher in the south. In Britain, bats comprised only 0.03% of prey taken by Barn Owl while in Morocco the

That bats could be dangerous if consumed whole is borne out by the report of the death of an Oriental Bay Owl *Phodilus badius* picked up dead disclosing the cause to be the wing bone of the bat protruding through the stomach [12]. In Poland, on its turn, a western barbastelle bat *Barbastella barbastellus* has been observed to attack an owl [13]. And in the same country, there is

of the Eagle Owl.

4 Bats

**4. Owl predation**

percentage is 0.05% [11].

**5. Bats can defend themselves**

Heimo Mikkola

Address all correspondence to: heimomikkola@yahoo.co.uk

University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland
