# What does bat milk taste like? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 6, 2020, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bat-milk-taste-like/922308 "2020-10-06T05:21:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2020, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bat-milk-taste-like/922308/1 "2020-10-06T05:21:40Z")
Can we raise them for milk? Maybe in a basement? How many would it take to m ake a liter a day? Would it be better with vanilla or chocolate? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2020, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bat-milk-taste-like/922308/2 "2020-10-06T05:29:47Z")
May I ask why you’re asking this and the origin of that question? I, for one, would not want the job of milking a bat, but since you asked, according to this and a couple other sources I found, it would be very creamy, because bat milk contains 10 to 15% fat, which is several times as fatty as human or cow’s milk. [http://www.bu.edu/cecb/files/2009/08/biorepro28229-2341983.pdf](http://www.bu.edu/cecb/files/2009/08/biorepro28229-2341983.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2020, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bat-milk-taste-like/922308/3 "2020-10-06T05:36:01Z")
It would depend, I think, on the bat’s diet. OTTOMH we got bats eating- fruit, bugs, fish and blood. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2020, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bat-milk-taste-like/922308/4 "2020-10-06T05:39:42Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > May I ask why you’re asking this and the origin of that question? Just getting kinda bored of oat milk, I guess. It seems like a bat milk farm would be a good lockdown hobby. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2020, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bat-milk-taste-like/922308/5 "2020-10-06T11:13:49Z")
I’d choose one of the larger “flying foxes” in the order “[Pteropus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pteropus)” if I were you. However, milking them may be slightly challenging, and I would imagine - as all bats in this family are wide ranging when out searching for food - your milch-bat just might not come home after the first experience. FWIW, here is some data on the nutritional value of bat milk. Good luck in your endeavors. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/319305?seq=1](https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/319305?seq=1) ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2020, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bat-milk-taste-like/922308/6 "2020-10-06T11:51:16Z")
Are you planning to feed them, or let them fly out and fend for themselves? You will need to start with licencing. You will need to check your local laws, but here is the relevant licensing page for Florida, as an example: > **[Captive Wildlife Licenses and Permits](https://myfwc.com/license/captive-wildlife/)** > > Captive Wildlife Note that Sugar Gliders don’t need a permit, so if all you’re looking for is flying milk, you could have a squirrel-dairy instead and bypass that requirement. I’m mostly concerned about the potential for disease. Please don’t start another pandemic just yet. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2020, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bat-milk-taste-like/922308/7 "2020-10-06T12:06:17Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/aZuWvwrEl_I/hqdefault.jpg "Rat milk scandal - The simpsons") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZuWvwrEl_I) ---
**Author:** ![GMANCANADA](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gmancanada/32/2837_2.png) [@GMANCANADA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GMANCANADA)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2020, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bat-milk-taste-like/922308/8 "2020-10-06T14:01:05Z")
I don’t about bat milk, but bat shit tastes like a big mouthful of crazy. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2020, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bat-milk-taste-like/922308/9 "2020-10-06T14:12:21Z")
I’ll bet Robin knows. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2020, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bat-milk-taste-like/922308/10 "2020-10-06T14:18:38Z")
> [@GMANCANADA](#): > > I don’t about bat milk, but bat shit tastes like a big mouthful of crazy. I’m afraid to ask… ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2020, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bat-milk-taste-like/922308/11 "2020-10-06T15:12:37Z")
In German we use the expression “zum Mäuse melken!” (literally: it makes you want to milk mice!) to express frustration, so I looked it up some ago and found out that mouse milk is among the most [expensive](http://blog.modernmechanix.com/mouse-milk-10000-a-quart/) milks in the world. They use it in labs, so if you can convince a lab that they need to investigate bats, say because they are relevant to virus transmission, you may have a market. But drinking it? At 10,000 $ a quart in 1,947 prices? Gimme a decent whisky. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2020, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bat-milk-taste-like/922308/12 "2020-10-07T01:21:11Z")
I suspect that this story is fake, a la The Onion. > **[Cat's Milk Mozzarella](https://italychronicles.com/cats-milk-mozzarella/)** > > In the southern Italian village of Rosaneto in the Basilicata region of Italy, they have cats, lots of them. Indeed, there are so many of these felines that the residents of Rosaneto didn't know what to do with them. Until, that was, enterprising... and this one too > **[Fromage de Chat (aka Cat Milk Cheese) | KQED](https://www.kqed.org/bayareabites/11956/fromage-de-chat)** > > Last week I was introduced to something I didn't even know existed: cat cheese. Known to cheese mongers as Fromage de Chat (or often just chat fromage), this cheese has become the new "it" food in the culinary world. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2020, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bat-milk-taste-like/922308/13 "2020-10-07T01:24:54Z")
That KQED story is dated April 1, 2010. Both stories are the same date. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2020, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bat-milk-taste-like/922308/14 "2020-10-07T01:29:43Z")
Thanks for pointing that out to me. I get it now. Still funny, especially the cat with the milking machine on her belly. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2020, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bat-milk-taste-like/922308/15 "2020-10-07T02:22:42Z")
Gross ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2020, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bat-milk-taste-like/922308/16 "2020-10-07T19:04:20Z")
If you want some cat milk, you gotta ask a Harkonnen. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2020, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bat-milk-taste-like/922308/17 "2020-10-07T22:55:13Z")
What does Bat Man taste like? ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2020, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bat-milk-taste-like/922308/18 "2020-10-07T23:31:29Z")
The next scene at the school is good, too. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nHzikfPMxM) ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bat-milk-taste-like/922308/19 "2020-10-08T00:51:23Z")
I’m late to the thread but was going to post this. What’s the problem? Everybody loves rats… ---
**Author:** ![Marion\_Wormer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Marion\_Wormer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marion_Wormer)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bat-milk-taste-like/922308/20 "2020-10-13T23:32:46Z")
Rabies is endemic in bats isn’t it? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-bat-milk-taste-like/922308.md?page=2)