Nocturnal Wildlife

 

Everything in nature goes by law, and not by luck. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Nocturnal wildlife includes animals which are more active during night. Sight is one of the evolved physical traits of these animals. They have big eyes and wide pupils. For instance, eyes of an owl are so big that they can not move in the socket but instead the wide pupils help them to collect more light.

Apart from sight nocturnal animals rely on their strong senses. Large cats as well as owls have specialised hearing to hunt at night. Owls’ ears are offset and ears of large cats are highly flexible. Many nocturnal animals apart from birds, have a good sense of smell which they use for communication. Snakes use taste to navigate and locate prey.

For several animals, special hairs with sensory receptors play an important role in finding food at night. In case of mammals, these receptors are on the whiskers where as the arthropods are covered by body hair with receptors. For example, spiders use their webs as sensory tools when they catch prey.

Light pollution caused by artificial lights have disrupted the world’s ecosystems. Glare from lights have turned night environment into day there by interfering in nocturnal activities such as reproduction and hunting. This has in turn resulted in a decrease in their population.

A tryst with nature #nocturnal

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