What Are Senses?
Senses are special tools that help animals and humans see, hear, taste, smell, and feel the world around them.
These tools are part of our sense organs, like our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin.
Animals also use these senses, and some of them even have extra abilities that we humans don’t have!
MAIN SENSES IN ANIMALS
Let’s look at each sense one by one and learn how animals use them.
Sense of Sight (Vision)
The sense of sight helps animals see their surroundings.
Humans can see well in the day, but not in the dark.
Some animals can see better than humans — even at night!
Examples:
Owls have big eyes that help them see in the dark while hunting at night.
Tigers can see six times better than humans at night.
Bees can see colors that humans can’t, like ultraviolet light, which helps them find flowers.
Sense of Smell
The sense of smell helps animals find food, detect danger, and even recognize friends or family.
Many animals have a stronger sense of smell than humans.
They use it to hunt, mate, and stay safe.
Examples:
Dogs have an excellent sense of smell.
They can find missing people, detect bombs, or sniff out diseases!
Bears can smell food from miles away.
Snakes use their tongue to “smell” the air by flicking it in and out.
Sense of Hearing
The sense of hearing helps animals listen for sounds — from predators, prey, or their group.
Some animals can hear sounds that are too high or too low for humans.
Hearing helps many animals communicate too.
Examples:
Elephants can hear very low sounds called infrasound, which travel long distances.
Bats use echolocation — they make sounds and listen for the echoes to find insects in the dark.
Dolphins can hear underwater and use sound to “talk” and find fish.
Sense of Taste
The sense of taste helps animals choose the right food and avoid harmful things.
Animals taste with their tongues, just like us.
Some animals have a very strong sense of taste.
Examples:
Cats don’t taste sweet things — their tongues can’t detect sugar!
Cows have over 25,000 taste buds!
They can taste salty, sweet, sour, and bitter.
Ants use their feelers (antennae) to taste and smell at the same time.
Sense of Touch
The sense of touch helps animals feel things like pain, pressure, temperature, or vibrations.
Animals feel through their skin, fur, or special body parts.
Examples:
Octopuses have arms covered with suckers that can taste and feel at the same time.
Cats have whiskers that help them sense nearby objects — even in the dark!
Elephants can feel tiny vibrations in the ground with their feet.
SPECIAL SENSES IN ANIMALS
Some animals have extraordinary senses that humans don’t have at all.
Let’s discover them!
Sense of Direction (Magnetic Sense)
Some animals can sense the Earth’s magnetic field and use it to travel long distances without getting lost!
Examples:
Sea turtles use magnetic fields to return to the beach where they were born.
Migratory birds like pigeons use this sense to fly thousands of kilometers.
Sense of Heat
Some animals can “see” heat, which helps them find warm-blooded prey — even in the dark.
Examples:
Pit vipers (like rattlesnakes) have heat-sensing pits on their heads to detect warm animals.
Some bats can detect warm-blooded animals with their nose leaves.
Sense of Vibration
Some animals can feel tiny vibrations in the ground or air to sense movement or danger.
Examples:
Spiders feel vibrations in their web when an insect gets caught.
Elephants can feel vibrations through their feet from other elephants far away.
How Do Animals Use Their Senses?
Animals use their senses to:
Find food
Watch for danger
Communicate with others
Find their way home
Attract mates
Their lives depend on these senses every day!
Fun Animal Facts!
Let’s look at some fun and surprising sense-based facts about animals:
Animal Super Sense Fun Fact
Bat Hearing Uses echolocation to catch insects in the dark.
Snake Smell/Heat Flicks tongue to smell and senses heat from prey.
Dog Smell Can detect scents 40x better than humans.
Octopus Touch/Taste Suckers on arms can taste and feel things!
Dolphin Hearing Uses clicking sounds to find fish underwater.
Bee Sight Sees ultraviolet light invisible to humans.
Activity Time for Kids!
Let’s try some fun learning games at home:
Animal Sense Detective:
Pick an animal and guess which sense it uses the most.
Example:
Dog — Smell
Owl — Sight
Bat — Hearing
Draw an Animal’s Super Senses:
Draw your favorite animal and show what super sense it has.
Add fun labels like:
“I can see in the dark!
” (Owl)
“I smell everything!
” (Dog)
Match the Sense Game:
Make two sets of cards:
One with senses (sight, smell, hearing, etc.)
One with animal examples
Match them correctly and time yourself for fun!
Why Are Animal Senses Important?
Animal senses are very important because they help animals:
Stay alive
Find their families
Escape danger
Catch food
Explore nature
Without these senses, animals wouldn’t survive in the wild.
