When it comes to our five senses, animals certainly are the superior ones. Even rabbits, which may seem so cute and cuddly when they’re inside our homes, turn into smart and skillful animals.
This is especially so when outside in the wild where they need all their senses to stay alive and avoid predators.
Rabbits night vision is certainly a lot better than humans in low light. However, that doesn’t mean that they can magically see through the dark either. Although a bunny’s sight can easily see even in near-zero visibility conditions, pitch-black darkness is still impenetrable for the poor bunny.
As common prey, rabbits have already evolved to detect any instant changes in their surroundings such as an incoming predator.
These strong senses of theirs become activated regardless if it’s day or night. This is because bunnies are always on the brink of danger due to their small size.
In this article, we’ll explore just how capable a bunny rabbit is in seeing the world around it, even if it’s devoid of light.
Table of Contents
How much can rabbits see?
When you open your eyes, what do you see? Are you able to see only what’s in front of you? What about your back? Your sides, at least?
Unlike humans, rabbits don’t have their eyes in front of their face. Instead, they have their eyes at the side of their heads. This removes plenty of limitations all the while exchanging them for new ones.
Thanks to this location, rabbits have a 360-degree field of vision. This means that rabbits can see not just what’s in front of them, but even those above and behind them.
In comparison, humans with front-facing eyes have only 180-degree vision, which means that their field of vision is limited only to objects that are located somewhere in front of them.
However, there’s no such thing as perfect in this world, and even a bunny rabbit with its great eyesight cannot see completely everything.
In fact, their 360-degree vision comes with a major limitation. This is because their blind spot is located directly at the front of their face, right at their chin level.
Have you ever wondered why your bunny seems to ignore the treat or toy that you placed directly in front of his nose? It’s most likely because it doesn’t know the treat is there – because it doesn’t even see it.
This blind spot becomes a huge problem for bunnies in the wild who have to avoid predators. Some natural Rabbit predators, like snakes for example, can use this blind spot to creep up on a rabbit and turn it into dinner without it even knowing.
To compensate for this blind spot, rabbits have another great sense to help them, namely a formidable sense of smell.
Together with the rabbit’s good sense of hearing, this sense of smell helps it locate food or treats despite not being able to see them when they get near.
Have you ever wondered what color eye rabbits have? Click this link to find out. You might be surprised.
How rabbits are in dim lights
Rabbits have far stronger eyesight than we do. This means they are able to see more things in low light than humans. Still, it doesn’t mean that bunnies are invincible at night.
Due to poor light conditions, images aren’t as sharp and clear to the bunny in the dark as it is in the light.
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For example, your bunny could possibly see you easily with the mole on your face. In low light, it may not even be able to see that feature of yours. Images in poor conditions, look grainy or even blurry to rabbits.
In addition to this, bunnies have a much more limited color vision which becomes a little better in low light.
During daytime conditions, they can usually see only green or blue hues, the same color of food that they usually eat like grass and other vegetation.
This means they have to rely on their other senses in order to completely differentiate one object from another.
This includes using their sense of hearing to familiarise themselves with voices or common sounds and their sense of smell for sniffing out the good from the bad.
Do rabbits see in color?
As humans, we see the colors blue, green and red but rabbits can only see the colors green and blue. They cannot see red and yellow. There are 3 layers that make up a rabbit’s eyes.
FUN FACT: It can look like a rabbit is sleeping and that their eyes are shut but that’s just one layer of their eye. They will still be able to see you!
Rabbit’s eyes do not focus as well as humans and what they see is slightly blurred and off focus.
Rabbit use all their other senses to make up for this poor vision like smell, sound, and even touch.
Conclusion: Can rabbits see in the dark?
The simple answer? Yes, rabbits can see in the dark – as long as it’s not pitch black.
If it’s the kind of darkness where there is still some form of light nearby or even in the distance, bunnies will have no problem navigating their environment at all. However, in pitch black darkness, bunnies have no choice but to completely rely on other senses.
If you’re thinking of leaving your bunny at night without turning on the nightlight, then don’t worry, your bunny will be completely fine.
It will probably just use its other senses, especially its great sense of smell and hearing, in order to fill in the gaps brought about by the poor light conditions.
In fact, prey animals like bunnies tend to enjoy low light better than bright lights. Excessive lighting is actually a bigger problem for rabbits than dim lighting.
Not only will dim lighting make your bunny feel safer from predators, it will also help your bunny become more comfortable in moving around. After all, there’s no need to be as careful when you know that your predators can’t find you.
Try watching your bunny from afar when you leave it in its burrow for the night and you’ll certainly be amazed at how energetic it will suddenly become!
