Nocturnal predators usually have a sensitive sight and/or do not rely on visible light to see(infrared vision). Nocturnal animals are usually more vulnerable to predation, so keeping active only during the night makes them somewhat 'invisible'(mice). Nocturnal means done or active during the night. Below is a diagram to show the times and duration of a twilight.

Being crepuscular serves them well as pets when their owners are rather busy during the day the owners are unavailable when the pet itself is inactive. When a prey population increases due to their crepuscular habit, predators will have more food thus increasing their population, which in turn decreases the prey, then the predators decrease, increasing the prey, and so on. This creates a state of a self regulating oscillating equilibrium. In addition to the that, in the wild, predators are generally least occurring during those times. On the other hand, crepuscular prey can use this light to easily spot and avoid predators(rabbits). Usually Crepuscular predators are active during twilight because their prey is active during that time, and they still have a decent amount of light to hunt and forage(guinea pigs). Twilight is the illumination of the earth's lower atmosphere when the sun itself is not directly visible. Crepuscular animals are active during twilight. Diurnal animals predominantly have colored and vivid vision.Ĭrepuscular means of Twilight. Diurnal prey have the advantage of easily spotting predators from a distance. Animals that mainly rely on vision to hunt for food are usually diurnal. However, in the wild, diurnal animals have the advantage of, sometimes, direct sun exposure( for example turtles which use it for vitamin D3 synthesis), and more importantly, a very good visibility. Pets are usually diurnal, which is generally great for them since mostly humans are also diurnal, so their carers will have time for them, at least partially during the day. Though times of activity of an animal are in relevance to the animal, as in it is to its advantage, it can act against it when this animal is a pet. Animals that are diurnal are active during the day. This pupil shape allows them to sharply gauge distance before leaping for prey.Diurnal by definition means of or during the day. “Cats also have slit-shaped pupils, which are common in ambush predators. “Their pupils have the ability to dilate widely, allowing more light to hit their retinas, giving them great vision in low light,” Dr. Dogs have this, too, and this is why cats’ and dogs’ eyes will sometimes look like they’re glowing in the dark.Ĭats’ pupils can also dilate to large circles in the dark to let more light into their eyes. This allows cats to be able to see better in low-light situations. Kong said.Ĭats also have a layer in their eyes called the tapetum lucidum, which reflects light back through the retina to make more light available. “If there is some light in the room or coming to the room, they’ll be able to see much more than we can, since their eyes have more rods than us that are sensitive to the light, as well the ‘mirror’ layer in the eye that helps in catching more light,” Dr. Rods are the receptors that help with seeing in the dark. Kong said.Ĭats can’t see in the pitch-black dark, but they can see well in low light, which is why they’re able to hunt at dusk and dawn.Ĭats have more rods in their eyes than humans, which allows them to see well in low light. “Hunting at dusk and dawn gives cats an advantage because they’re less likely to be seen by predators,” Dr. The low light of the twilight hours also helped wild cats stay away from predators who were more active during the light of day and darkness of night, too. “The long hours between these times allowed them to rest and recuperate before the next hunt,” Dr. Hunting at dusk and dawn also gave cats a long time to relax and conserve energy in between their hunting sessions. “This adaptation allowed them to hunt in the cool of the day with just enough light to visualize, stalk and catch their prey.” “These habits of activity during twilight developed in the domestic cat’s wild cousin that lived in semi-desert-type environments,” Dr. Wild cats would hunt during periods of low light to stay cool in their desert environment, and eventually passed this trait down to the domesticated cats we know today. The reason why cats are more active when it’s dark out is because of their ancestors.

Cats are not nocturnal