Elk are colorblind - Aren't They?

[wife&3kids]

There is a bet around my office as to whether Elk are color blind or not. It came up at Elk camp this week when only one "smart" hunter was wearing orange- This would be the guy who also believes they are colorblind (I agree)
The other 6 rednecks think that the elk can see orange and therefore you shouldn't wear any. PLease Help quickly.....

[Myles]

Supposedly they see in grey shades. Something about they have more cones than rods in their eyes or vice-versey.

myles

[ 10-24-2002, 04:02 PM: Message edited by: Myles ]

[tailchaser]

The pigmentation in the eyes is why people believe they are colorblind. It's similar to people and characteristics found through studies on various animals. However, I'm not a real believer in this because no one can ever ask one. It's something that's been contemplated for a long time and probably won't be solved soon, but it is true that colorblind people are more perceptive to movements and picking things out in the wild that aren't supposed to be there. I'm not a scientific expert but it's from articles that I've read.

The other catch is colorblind people sometimes have certain colors that stand out to them. For instance, my buddy is totally black and white for the most part. However, the color of elk stick out to him like a shaded yellow that they are. He can pickem' out faster than I can usually. So there is exceptions to the rule. What color that could be on an elk is anyone's guess if it's possible.

tc

[crabbait]

I don't think guessing has anything to do with it. Elk and other herbivores developed eyes designed to detect motion and to have vision in almost 360 degrees in order to avoid predators. They see in shades of grey, black and white.

Their "color blindness" is nothing like human color blindness. Their ability to see any motion is remarkable.

Best vision? Probably birds which do see in color and with great perception.

[bigshark]

There is a fun thing to do when teaching kids about hunting. Get a handfull of old black and white photos and ask the kids what colors do you think are in the pictures. Then show them a picture of the class you took the week before with two different cameras, one with black and white film. Ask if they can remember what color their shirts were. Then pull out the picture taken with the color role and show them how yellow looks almost white etc.
Elk don't see colors as we do but they are aware of unnatural shades. Ever wonder why they stare at things......as if trying to decide something, like does it move? Smell and movement are their strong suites. I haven't done the teaching thing in a couple of decades when our boys
were young but I think it will still show what you are trying to explain.

[ 10-24-2002, 05:37 PM: Message edited by: bigshark ]

[Flatfish]

The ones I kill don't seem to mind the Orange.But an old smart man taught me how to hunt,so I am biased towards skill over camo anyday.If you are bowhunting then wear whatever you want.But if you are rifle hunting wear whatever you want.Just stay away from me if you aint wearing orange.
Mark and the tired Ninja dog.

[Lured In]

The best explanation I ever heard on the subject of 'ungulates' (sp: hooved animals) is that they are in fact NOT color blind. They are; however, seeing things different than we do. As was mentioned above, they have significantly more rods (night vision) than cones (day/color if I remember correctly). As such they have excellent sight at night. The other byproduct of this is that it shifts the center of there color spectrum from green (remember Red...Orange... Yellow...Green...Blue...Indigo...Violet? ROY G BIV) towards the the blue side. As such their color vision breaks down outside of the yellow side of things (toward red). So they do see color but it appears primarily in colors ranging from grays/blacks (outside of thier color vision) to blues and all the way into Ultra Violet (UV). This is why they make UV killers for camos and hunting clothes. Although the color is green the UV brighteners make anything with them look BLUE to elk and deer.

This is also why we wear International or Hunter Orange. It is outside thier color vision on the other side leaning toward Infra Red. So they see orange as a grey color as long as it has no UV brighteners in it.

I am not expert but that is what I read and it seems to make sense.

[pdxkevin]

That sounds about like what I have heard nad read. The ratio and design of the rods and cones in their eyes are designed to see more into the UV end of the spectrum. This gives them better low light vision.

[Gus Orviston]

You know I am with Bigshark, however, here is an interesting experience my offroad club has run into.

I race dirtbikes and belong to an offroad motorcycle club (NORA). We put on Enduros and Cross Country events. To mark the trails we use fouresent Orange/Red/Green route markers.

Many times we have found the markers torn down, often blaming hunters for it (BOE), we put them back up and go about racing.... However, once I saw elk running with our markers hanging out of their mouths! :whazzup: After seeing that I started examining the markers on the ground and many had bites taken out of the corners where the elk had ripped them off the trees!!

The seemed to have a preference for the Orange and Red markers over the Lime green....Why,,,,,dunno, but it happened repeateldy over several years.

[Myles]

I worked with a guy that was buying green extension cords to replace the orange ones the deer around his property had destroyed. :whazzup:

For those of you with too much time on your hands:
more about elk than you ever wanted to know.
http://www.bowhunting.net/NAspecies/indexnags.htm

myles

[OR Coast Range]

So what you guys are trying to say is that you stand a chance of having a bite taken out of you if you wear hunters orange?

I can see the headlines now: Man suffers heart attack after falling asleep and being mistaken for foilage. :shocked: