Sensational Senses: Amazing Ways Animals Perceive the World
Sensational Senses Amazing Ways Animals Perceive the World Rebecca E Hirsch Millbrook Press Minneapolis
INTRODUCTION The World beyond Your Senses Imagine you’re a superhero on a top-secret mission Disguised in civilian clothes you pursue a villain as she weaves down a crowded sidewalk She carries a roll of paper tucked under her arm the stolen blueprints You must recover them You are sure you can catch her but then she gives you a backward glance smiles and disappears into an alley
When you reach the alley it is dark and deserted A dead end Heavy metal doors line one brick wall Which one did she go through You must find out quickly before she gets away Your ears tingle You tip your head tune one ear to the first door and listen with your super hearing No one is inside At the second door all is quiet At the third door you can just hear distant footsteps That’s the one You yank it open and tear after her in hot pursuit In comic books and movies superheroes use their super senses to track down criminals But real super senses exist A big brown bat can navigate in total darkness in the world of nature Some animals have extraordinary ways of perceiving the world They can see hear smell taste or feel things that are hidden to humans Some have sixth senses special ones that you don’t have Animals use these sensational abilities to evade predators catch prey or send secret signals In nature super senses aren’t just cool to have they’re a matter of survival A mantis shrimp a colorful cousin of crabs and lobsters rests on the bottom of a coral reef Want to wander through the surprising world of supreme animal senses You’ll need your own sharp senses and your keen mind The animals are ready waiting for you with their unique ways of perceiving the world 5
