Nocturnal animals

Can you think of any nocturnal animals? Creatures that spend the day sleeping and are awake and active at night time are called nocturnal. Can you think of any nocturnal animals?

Why are nocturnal animals special? Nocturnal animals have special adaptations that help them to survive in the dark. Many nocturnal animals, such as owls and cats, have special eyes that see well in the dark. Some nocturnal animals, like bats, use echo location, in which the animal emits a high-pitched sound which bounces off objects; the sound is then received by the animal, giving it information about the object’s shape, direction, distance and texture. Other nocturnal animals, like rabbits, have good hearing.

Nocturnal animals At night when you go to bed, you may hear wildlife sounds. If you listen carefully you may hear owls hooting, cats meowing, foxes calling and the sound of moles or badgers digging. Owls and night sounds Cat Fox bark Fox call Fox playing

Which animals are nocturnal? These are just a few animals which are nocturnal. Badgers Bats Foxes Hedgehogs Owls

Badgers Badgers are shy creatures that live in sets and make their homes in burrows underground. They have black fur and a white stripe running between their eyes on the front of their nose. They can’t see very well but can smell and hear well. Their front paws have enormous claws for digging.

What do badgers eat? earthworms (Their favourite meal!) mice young rabbits nuts berries slugs frogs

Noisy creatures! Badger purr Badgers make several different noises, including snorts, growls and even screams! Badger growl Badger snort

Foxes Foxes are clever mammals. They are meat eaters with large ears and long busy tails. Their fur is a reddish brown and they live in dens under the ground. The male fox is called a dog and the female fox is called a vixen.

Foxy fact In the wild, foxes eat worms, beetles and snails. They don’t like to waste food and will save leftovers for later by burying them.

Male foxes The male fox is called a dog or tod. It hunts alone rather than in packs, hence the saying ‘on one’s tod’, meaning to go it alone. Pests In the spring foxes can become a real pest, especially to the wild bird population when they target young chicks and fledglings. In the autumn and winter foxes tend to eat just about anything they can get hold of including the odd raid on chicken runs!

Bats Blind as a bat Ever heard the saying, “blind as a bat”? Well it’s just an old wives tale. In low light, bats can see even better than humans! There are 17 different kinds of bat in the UK. Flying mammal Bats are our only flying mammal and they generally catch their insect prey in flight using echo location, a kind of radar. Even our smallest bats catch up to 3,000 midges in one night. Echo location Bats use sound to navigate in the dark and to find food. They send out high-pitched sounds and listen out for the echo that comes back. Protected by law Bats are protected by law, so you could be fined if you disturb them.

Hedgehogs Hedgehogs have about 5,000 stiff spiky spines on their back which they use to protect themselves from predators . Their bellies are soft and hairy. When they feel threatened or frightened they roll up into a prickly ball. Autumn and winter It is in the autumn that we will usually see hedgehogs in our gardens on the hunt for the last slug before disappearing for the winter under a log pile or compost heap to hibernate. Some youngsters are born late which gives them the impossible task of fattening up before winter – there’s simply not enough food to go round.

Becoming rare Hedgehogs used to be one of the commonest British animals but now they are becoming rarer and rarer. One of the main reasons is because we are becoming tidier – hedgerows are disappearing and people are keeping their gardens too neat so there is no rough ground for them to go to.

No table manners! Did you know that hedgehogs can be very noisy eaters – they grunt as they munch! Hedgehog feeding video clip

Gardener’s friend Hedgehogs are sometimes called the gardener’s friend as they eat all the pests that gardeners don’t like such as slugs and snails. Hedgehog facts: Did you know that hedgehogs snore? A baby hedgehog is called a hoglet. Hedgehogs are good swimmers and excellent climbers. They can smell and hear really well. They hibernate in winter.

Owls Owls have amazing hearing and can see well in the dark. Their eyes face forwards (unlike other birds whose eyes are on the sides of their heads) and they can’t move their eyes but make up for it by being able to swivel their heads almost right round.

Barn owl Barn owls make eerie, screeching noises. This is why they are sometimes called the ghost owl. They have ghostly white long wings, heart-shaped faces and are pale white underneath with yellowy-grey backs. The circles of feathers around their eyes give them a wide-eyed, alert look. They can be found flying over tall grasses which are full of mice and voles. Barn owl in flight video clip

Where they live Like their name suggests, barn owls often nest in farm buildings such as barns and sheds. Other dark nooks and crannies such as church steeples will do too. Owl pellets Owls swallow their prey whole then spit out all the bits they can’t digest such as bones and fur. These are called pellets.

Whilst we are sleeping there is a whole world of animals just waking up. The shy creatures, such as the badgers, come out of their set to find food. The sly, cunning fox using his large ears to help him hunt and steal chickens. The owls use the cover of darkness to silently go undetected in our skies, flying like ghostly white shapes. Then when the morning light comes again they will return to their burrows, bens and roosting branches to sleep off their busy night. It all starts again the following night for the nocturnal animals.