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Most people outside of livestock or veterinary medicine know little about bulls. There is a widespread belief that bulls cannot tolerate red, and some argue that these animals are completely color-blind. To find out if there is truth in these statements, you need to figure out whether the bulls are color blind or not.
Is it true that bulls are color blind?
Despite popular belief, bulls, like cows, are not color blind in the full sense of the word. Color blindness is a feature of vision in which the ability to distinguish colors is partially or completely absent. This anomaly can be triggered by eye trauma or age-related changes, but is often inherited. However, regardless of whether color blindness is acquired or genetic, it is characteristic only of humans and some species of primates.
Bulls and other cattle do not really distinguish all the colors available to humans. However, this is due to the structure of the organs of vision and is observed in all representatives of this species, and therefore is not defined as a violation. Therefore, bulls cannot be called color blind.
Features of cattle vision
In order to find out what colors the bulls perceive, it is necessary to know the features of the organs of vision of these artiodactyls.
The eye of representatives of cattle is in many respects similar to that of a human in its structure. Consisting of the vitreous humor, lens and membrane, it is connected to the brain via the optic nerve.
The ocular membrane is conventionally divided into three types:
- Outdoor - includes the cornea and sclera. Attached to the sclera are muscles that provide movement of the eyeball in the orbit. The transparent cornea carries out the conduction of light reflected from objects to the retina.
- Average - consists of the iris, ciliary body and choroid. The iris, like a lens, directs light from the cornea into the eye, regulating its flow. In addition, eye color depends on its pigment. The choroid contains blood vessels. The ciliary body ensures the activity of the lens and promotes optimal heat exchange in the eye.
- Internal, or retina - carries out the transformation of the reflection of light into a nerve signal going to the brain.
The light-sensitive cells that are responsible for the perception of color are located just in the retina of the eye. They are rods and cones. Their number and location determines how well the animal sees during the day, how it navigates in the dark and what colors it perceives. Scientists have found that bulls and cows can see in the green, blue, yellow, red, black and white spectra, but the saturation of these colors is very low, and their shades in the perception of animals merge into a single tone.
However, this does not in any way prevent these mammals from fully existing, since they do not rely on color to survive. Far more important to them is the ability to have panoramic vision. Cows, unlike humans, can see 330 ° around them due to the slightly elongated shape of the pupil. In addition, they respond more quickly to movement than humans.
As for the range at which bulls are able to see certain objects, it does not differ in length. These animals have a blind spot at a distance of up to 20 cm from the tip of the nose - they simply cannot see objects in this zone.In addition, the clarity of distinguishing objects is lost already outside the radius of 2 - 3 m from them.
Another feature of these artiodactyls is night vision. With the onset of dusk, the vision of cows sharpens hundreds of times, which allows them to notice in time hypothetical predators that hunt mainly at night. At the same time, in the dark, the eyes of cows and bulls tend to glow, like a cat's, due to a special pigment that refracts light in a special way.
The myth of the bulls and the color red
As for the myth that bulls become aggressive at the sight of red, as in the case of color blindness, this belief has a scientific rebuttal. As noted above, bulls actually recognize red, albeit very poorly. But this has nothing to do with increasing the level of aggression.
The belief goes back to the Spanish bullfight, in which matadors, when faced with a bull, brandish a red cloth in front of it - a mulet. Fierce confrontations between beast and man, combined with such a spectacular attribute, led many to believe that it was the bright color of the muleta that provoked the bull to attack. In fact, the muleta can be of absolutely any color, since the animal reacts not to color, but to sudden movements in front of it. It was made red for practical reasons: so the blood on it is less noticeable.
The bull's anger also has an explanation. For the performance, animals of a special breed are used, in which the manifestation of aggressiveness is trained from birth. Before the battle, they are not fed for some time, so that the already not the most agreeable animal becomes irritated, and the spectacle, thanks to this, is more effective. The crimson color only emphasizes the general atmosphere of passion. Therefore, the expression "like a red rag for a bull" is just a beautiful turn of speech and has no real basis.
Conclusion
When asked whether bulls are color blind or not, one can confidently give a negative answer. Bulls are able to distinguish a number of colors, including red. However, the scarlet tone does not make them go berserk, as is often shown in films. In reality, color perception is not as important to them as vision in the dark or wide viewing angle.
