Blind as a bat? Even though bats have eyes are they actually blind?

Answer 1

I got this information from the records of yahoo answers as this has been answered before.

Bats are not blind.
What about phrasing the question the other way around? Bats don't have to fly at night because they're blind; rather they have evolved to occupy an ecological niche that involves crepuscular-nocturnal activity. Some bats took the evolutionary path towards small size and echolocation; those are the ones with small eyes and large ears. It's a matter of adaptation: they don't use their eyes as much as their sense of hearing, but usually structures or functions are not lost unless the _loss_ implies some benefit. Relatively small eyes are still functioning eyes!

Other bats that are much bigger, have large eyes and good eyesight; the so-called flying foxes.
And to return to the question: a good reason that bats fly during the night is that they encounter less competition from other animals for their food, which may be insects, flowers, fruits, fish, etc.
Check the Special Topics at the Animal Diversity Web:
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/si...

Answer 2

It really depends on the species of bat, some have quite good eyesight and not all use 'echolocation' which is a massive simplification of the actual technique they use.
And another strange thing is how does one bat, out of several thousand, recognize its own echo through the noise of all the others? The answer is very clever and I use the human version every day to map geological structures in our never ending search for oil. Each has its own unique ‘signature’ or frequency sweep which it can differentiate from all the noise generated by its counterparts (other animals use this as well). The human version is called vibroseis and we ‘discovered’ it about 50 or so years ago, bats have been using it for millions …. but they are not interested in finding oil, and they cant write technical papers.

Answer 3

Like many things that are called "blind", including "blind" humans, bats are not blind, they just have extremely bad eyesight. Instead, they use sonar to locate obstacles and prey.

Many people are described (incorrectly) as blind, when in reality they are visually impaired - they have very limited vision compared to a "non-blind" person, but can still sense objects in front of them. It is rare for anything with eyes to be completely blind. Most can detect at least rudimentary visual data - such as the difference between light and dark.

Interestingly, there was a report of a "blind" boy who used his own kind of sonar, similar to a bat. Originally it was thought he might have esp (extra sensory perception), as he could ride his trike around the block, avoiding any obstructions. Upon investigation, it was found that he was sensitive to echos from his bell, which he constantly rang.

However, I can't find any documentary evidence on that at the moment, so it might just be ab urban legend.

Answer 4

No, they are not blind, eyes are set up for being "Nocturnal", they use sonar to locate bugs flying around.... Very interesting animal, I used to shoot rubber bands, and toss up small rocks to watch the bats dive for them when I was on the overnight shift in the summer at work. They would arrive around 4am, there was a vent with a fan on the roof at work, the heat would leave the exhaust fan, there was a light by the exhaust fan, Insects would get caught in the updraft, the bats would fly a tight circle and put the "MUNCH" on the bugs, they always amazed me, Bats are very good for the environment, they eat so many insects every night. They got a bad name because they work at night, and were thought of as "EVIL", nothing could be further from the truth, I enjoyed watching these little guys go to work on the bugs, It's the only thing that I miss about the over night shift ! These little guys work hard all night, so there are less bugs on you, because of THEM !

Answer 5

Bats are not blind, they have very poor eye sight. They use echo location (sonar) in flight,and to catch prey. Fruit bats are active in the day and others are active at night

Answer 6

Bats have perfectly good eyesight! the problem is, they do most of their hunting at night. So at night they use their high pitched sqeaks called "ultasounds", These sounds are too high for most people to hear. If these sounds hit something they bounce back...Sort of like an echo you hear while in the mountains when u shout.The Bat hears the echo and can tell where the object is.

Answer 7

i have been told bats are blind they find there food through sound and vibrations but then i was also told that they can see in the dark?? so i dont really know the answer to your question but can I have the 10 points for making the effort to answer lol

Answer 8

I have either read an article or seen a program on bats and from what I remember bats can actually see.

Answer 9

Yes they are blind. They navigate on the sound waves that are bounced back to them off of surrouding objects. Hence the screeching type of noise you hear.
Many bats have developed adaptations that let them find their way (and their prey) in complete darkness.
To help them find their prey in the dark, most bat species have developed a remarkable navigation system called echolocation.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/bat2.htm

Answer 10

Bats are not blind. They can see very well. In addition to visual spectrum "seeing," they also have the ability to "see" using sonar, so they "see" far more than humans are able to see. You try navigating into and out of pitch-black caves at full speed and you'll see what I mean.