Nocturnal Animals
Animals that are most active at night
D Wood
Contents
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Using their senses
Another trick which helps them
Sight
Hearing
Smell
Touch
Minibeasts
Animals that live in the sea
Reptiles
Birds
Bats,hedgehogs and badgers
Cats
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 dark
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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 it
camouflage: hidden, a pattern or design that helps an animal blend into the
background
gnawing : using its teeth to nibble and bite or nibble at something
nostrils : openings at the end of its nose
snout : a name for an animal’s nose when it is long and sticks out
reptile: an animal that has scaly skin, is cold blooded and lays eggs
rodents: members of the mouse family that usually have sharp teeth and like to
gnaw at things
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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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