Bull Color Blind
The myth arose from the use of red capes in the sport of bullfighting.
Bull color blind. In 2007 though discovery channel s show mythbusters put this myth to the test. Recent studies have found this to be untrue. In their paper color perception in fighting cattle riol and colleague point out that though the fighting bull s aggression might be directed at the muleta the color of the muleta shouldn t be disregarded completely in their study though the bulls showed no aggressive behaviour when showed the red color.
A common misconception about cattle particularly bulls is that they are enraged by the color red something provocative is often said to be like a red rag to a bull. Bulls along with all other cattle are color blind to red. In fact two different capes are used.
Cats dogs bulls and many other mammals can see in color. Bulls cannot see colours in the red green spectrum but can see in the yellow and blue spectrum though with only two colour receptors they do not see all the shades of yellow and blue. Like most mammals it has long been assumed that cats and dogs are all color blind and can only see in black and white.
They are however sensitive to sharp changes in light and d. Thus the bull is likely irritated not by the muleta s color but by the cape s movement as the matador whips it around.
