I have a question about a deer's vision. I have read articles that state they see 2 dimension and claims that they see 3 dimension, could you possible clear this up for me?
Answer:
I took this directly from the Mule Deer Foundation website.
Because the eyes of mule deer are located on the sides of their heads, they can see a 310 degree view around themselves. They have better nighttime vision than humans, but less accurate daytime and color vision.
Mule deer can detect slight predator movement up to 600 meters away, but they are not very good at detecting motionless forms.
With eyes in the front of our heads - we see a lot less than a mule deer sees. A mule deer absorbs light differently than humans. Deer have much better low light vision, but they do not distinguish between colors as well as a human.
A major study by leading researchers and scientist at the University of Georgia concluded the following: (http://www.texashuntworks.com/resources/articles/255-how-deer-see-you.html)
Deer lack the cone that is responsible for red color (long wave lengths). Therefore, it is safe to say that wearing such colors as Red and Orange do not affect a hunters ability to remain hidden from a deer's vision. This does not mean that deer don’t see these colors, they are just perceived differently. A deer’s vision is limited to short blue and middle green wave lengths. “This means that deer can distinguish blue from red, but not green from red or orange from red”. According to this data, it is safe to say that blue colors are the worst to wear for camouflage and that green, red and orange are safe to wear from a camouflage stand point.
This study also found that deer are capable of seeing UV dyes and brighteners within fabrics. This study was unable to determine how bright these colors appear to the deer. Keep in mind that the UV factor will only be of concern during low light hours. Unfortunately, this is when deer are most active.
Answered on:
Thursday, April 30, 2015 - 9:12 AM MDT