Can Bats See?

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You'd definitely be forgiven for thinking that bats were blind - they come out at night only and sleep most of the day away. They also use a communication system called echolocation, which allows the mammals to interpret sound waves into much more detailed information. Read Bats and Echolocation: How They Fly & Find Food It was almost seem as if bats had no use at all for a sense of sight, but they can see.



That's right; bats are NOT blind.

Okay, we're lying to you a little bit. Bats are born blind, and also completely devoid of fur. It doesn't take long for the fur to grow - only around five to seven days. The bat will be able to see clearly at the one-week-old mark too, making them no longer blind. In fact, their eyes open at about 24-hours old, but they won't be quite so clear-visioned for a little while longer.

Some people wonder if and how bats communicate. Learn about How Do Bats Talk to Each Other?

Bats don't need a sense of sight quite in the same way that we humans need a sense of sight. Bats rely on their ears more, using that echolocation system that is also adopted by the likes of dolphins, and they're considered to be one of the most intelligent species on the planet! Not all bats have the same system. Most bats give off the signal through the mouth, but there are some species, such as the horseshoe bat, that is known to give out the sound through the nose instead. Different bat species will also have slightly different frequencies used in during echolocation activity, but most are far too high-pitched to be heard by people. Your dog or cat, on the other hand, is probably going to get rather annoyed by the noise in the late evening and may howl or bark back.

Go back to the Bat Removal page, or learn about bats in the attic with my Bats in the Attic guide.