Last updated on September 3rd, 2022
The big cats of the world are some of the most admired animals out there. Able to be found in most corners of the earth and each one of these lethal felines draws in a large fanbase.
Located in Central and South America lives one of the top five largest cats the world has to offer: the Jaguar.
Jaguars can be anywhere from 3.5 feet to over 6 feet long and weighing in around 120 to over 200 pounds, depending on exactly where each jaguar lives.
Location is everything for animals of this size, as resources and food vary from place to place. Luckily for jaguars, their habitat of large forests and jungles allow them to hunt as much as they desire. But this brings up one of the first questions many have when they think about big cats, or even jaguars in particular: what do they eat?
What do jaguars eat?
Jaguars are considered carnivores, meaning they survive by hunting and eating other animals.
Generally speaking, jaguars will more often than not go for large prey so they can go longer in between meals if needed, though they do eat almost every day.
This means that the typical prey for a jaguar is capybaras, small deer, monkeys, porcupines, and tapirs. However, sometimes larger prey is hard to come by or hard to catch, so a jaguar might make a meal out of small rodents or birds.
A jaguar’s preferred hunting space is usually the forest or jungle because of the cover they have while stalking their prey. However, because they hunt almost every day, jaguars have been known to occasionally hunt in or near rivers since they might end up with fish, turtles, frogs, or even caimans as their meal!
Do jaguars eat insects?
Despite knowing exactly what jaguars do eat, many people still question whether or not these big cats will eat insects, and more specifically grasshoppers.
Jaguars don’t eat grasshoppers because they’re carnivores and aren’t known for hunting insects as part of their meals, however, a jaguar that’s feeling playful will most likely play with or chase a grasshopper while trying to smack it around.
While jaguars do hunt and eat animals that eat bugs such as rodents, monkeys, and frogs, they don’t hunt insects for their meals. Occasionally a jaguar might chomp down on a bug that is close by and bothering them, but that’s not the norm.
However, jaguars are just big cats after all, and what do cats love more than to chase after and play with something that is hopping around quickly.
If a jaguar were to eat a grasshopper, it’ll most likely be after chasing it around and playing with it.
