Nocturnal Animals Animals that are most active at night D Wood.

Nocturnal Animals

Animals that are most active at night

D Wood

Contents1. Using their senses2. Another trick which helps them3. Sight4. Hearing5. Smell6. Touch7. Minibeasts8. Animals that live in the sea9. Reptiles10. Birds11. Bats,hedgehogs and badgers12. Cats13. Glossary

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Using their senses

• Nocturnal animals are mainly active at night

• The darkness gives them some protection from predators.

• They usually have super senses of sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste to help them in the dark

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Another trick which helps them

• Nocturnal animals have another trick to help them stay hidden, camouflage

• Dull colours and dappled fur helps them to blend with their surroundings

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Sight

• Finding your way around in the dark is much easier if you can see well.

• Snakes, cats and birds rely on all their senses

• At night having huge eyes that can open up wide to let the light in can be helpful. Just look at this Tarsier

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Hearing

• Animals that hunt in the night have to have good hearing

• Some have developed large ears to pinpoint noises better.

• One animal that can even hear beetle larvae gnawing are bat eared foxes

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Smell

• Many animals rely on their sense of smell and this is especially true of animals that hunt at night.

• Kiwis are birds from New Zealand and they have the best sense of smell of any bird.

• The nostrils at the tip of their beaks can sniff out insects and worms

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Touch

• Nocturnal animals need a good sense of touch to tell them what is around them

• Whiskers, hairy snouts and sensitive skin can all help

• Whiskers can help tell a harvest mouse if a space is large enough to crawl through

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Minibeasts

• Lots of insects and minibeasts come out when it is dark.

• They hide when it is hot in the day time• Predators are less like to see them in the dark

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Animals that live in the sea

• Some animals that live in the sea also like to hide until it is dark

• Eels, horseshoe crabs, angel sharks all like to stay hidden until it is dark

• They lie in wait and hide until something comes along.

• They use their sense of smell to help them

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Reptiles

• Most reptiles live in hot countries so have to wait until night falls before they can come out to hunt.

• Snakes are super nocturnal hunters as they can feel the heat from another animal’s body

• They then use their sense of smell and strike!• Geckos have large eyes which helps them to see

in the dark04/22/23

Birds

• Owls are one of the most well known nocturnal animals

• They sleep during the day and come out to hunt at night.

• If you see an owl during the day it will be very sleepy

• Other birds like to hunt at night because there are so many insects around and food is easy to find

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Bats Hedgehogs and Badgers• Other nocturnal

animals that we can see in this country are bats, hedgehogs and badgers

• Although bats have good eyesight, they rely more on their hearing and sense of smell

• Hedgehogs come out at night to look for worms and insects

• Badgers spend most of the day asleep and are perfectly camouflaged for the night

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Cats• Big cats abroad hunt at

night when it is cooler• But nearer to home we

find that our own domestic cat likes to roam around and hunt when it is dark

• Domestic cats like to sleep during they day but are active hunters at night. They often bring home small rodents or birds.

• A bell on the cat’s collar will help to alert other animals and may save them from being killed

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Glossary nocturnal: animals that are most active at night

time predator: something that preys on another

animal to kill itcamouflage: hidden, a pattern or design that

helps an animal blend into the backgroundgnawing : using its teeth to nibble and bite or

nibble at somethingnostrils : openings at the end of its nosesnout : a name for an animal’s nose when it is

long and sticks outreptile: an animal that has scaly skin, is cold

blooded and lays eggsrodents: members of the mouse family that

usually have sharp teeth and like to gnaw at things04/22/23

What facts can you remember?

• Name six things that you have found out about nocturnal animals

• Why are their senses so good?

• What nocturnal animals do we have in this country?

• Name as many nocturnal animals as you can

• Why does a mouse have long whiskers?

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