Ocelots are opportunistic predators that eat primarily small mammals, which make up roughly 65 to 66% of their diet. The rest is filled out by reptiles (12 to 18%), birds (4 to 11%), medium-sized mammals (6 to 10%), and a smaller share of crustaceans and fish (2 to 7%). What an ocelot hunts on any given night depends heavily on where it lives and what’s available.
Small Mammals Are the Staple
Across their range from southern Texas to northern Argentina, ocelots rely on small rodents more than anything else. In Venezuela, mammals account for 88% of total diet volume, with spiny rats being the single most common prey item. In parts of Venezuela’s llanos grasslands, rats and mice showed up in 87% of feces examined during the dry season and 84% during the wet season. Specific rodent species vary by region: cane mice, rice rats, and spiny rats dominate in South America, while cotton rats and wood rats are more common in Central America and Mexico.
Opossums are another major food source. In Belize, common opossums and gray four-eyed opossums are the most frequently eaten prey. Mouse opossums, which are much smaller, also appear regularly in diet studies from Peru and Venezuela.
Beyond rodents and opossums, ocelots take a surprising range of medium-sized mammals when the opportunity arises. Documented prey includes agoutis, armadillos, cottontail rabbits, porcupines, coatis, lesser anteaters, nutrias, three-toed sloths, and even howler monkeys. These larger catches are less frequent but represent important caloric windfalls. Agoutis in particular seem to be a shared favorite: in areas where jaguars have declined, both ocelots and pumas converge on agoutis as a key food source, especially during the wet season.
Reptiles, Birds, Fish, and Crabs
Reptiles make up the second-largest food category. Iguanas are the most commonly eaten reptile, but ocelots also take land tortoises, various lizards, small turtles, frogs, and colubrid snakes. In Peru, reptiles account for about 12% of the diet, while other studies put the figure closer to 18%.
Birds contribute a smaller but consistent share, typically 4 to 11% depending on the region. Ocelots are primarily nocturnal hunters, so they likely catch birds that roost at night rather than pursuing them in flight.
Fish and crustaceans round out the diet at 2 to 7%. Ocelots have been observed catching spawning fish in shallow streams and eating land crabs. In Venezuela’s dry season, land crabs become a notably frequent prey item, likely because receding water levels concentrate crabs in smaller areas and make them easier to catch.
How Diet Shifts With the Seasons
Ocelots don’t eat the same things year-round. Seasonal changes in prey availability shape what ends up on the menu. During dry months in Venezuela, land crabs, iguanas, and certain open-grassland rodents spike in frequency. As the wet season arrives, rabbits, birds, and a broader mix of small to medium mammals become more common. These shifts aren’t dramatic, though. The same ocelot population tends to eat more similarly between its own wet and dry seasons than it does compared to ocelot populations in different habitats. In other words, geography matters more than season.
Competition with other predators also influences prey choice. Where jaguars are present, ocelots tend to stick closely to small prey. Where jaguars have disappeared, ocelots and pumas both shift toward mid-sized prey like agoutis, creating new dietary overlap between the two remaining cats.
Hunting Style and Physical Tools
Ocelots are nocturnal, solitary hunters that stalk prey on the ground. Their large eyes relative to body size give them strong night vision, and their primary prey species (spiny rats, opossums, agoutis, armadillos) are also active at night. They hunt by slow stalking and short pounches rather than chasing prey over long distances.
Like all cats, ocelots kill with a powerful bite. Research on cat skull evolution shows that smaller wild cats deliver proportionally strong bite forces relative to their body size, allowing them to dispatch prey quickly. Ocelots weigh between 8 and 16 kilograms (roughly 18 to 35 pounds), and their prey rarely exceeds a few kilograms. The largest documented prey items, like howler monkeys and sloths, are exceptional rather than routine.
Ocelots and Domestic Animals
In rural areas of Central and South America where ocelots live alongside farming communities, poultry predation is a real concern. A study in the rainforests of southeastern Mexico recorded 539 predation events attributed to ocelots, with poultry being the primary target. Ocelots ranked among the top three predators of domestic birds in the study area, alongside opossums and raptors. They don’t typically go after larger livestock like goats or cattle, but their reputation as chicken killers makes them unpopular with small-scale poultry farmers and creates ongoing tension between conservation goals and rural livelihoods.