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[TexasBoars]

Ever heard someone say, deer/hogs can't see red light

I do not have much time so I will try to keep this short.

Just what do they see when a RED LIGHT is one and what do the see when a WHITE LIGHT is on.

In the past i made assumptions, that if a color blind person or animal walked into an area in which LIGHT of the color in which they were blind was ON they saw ILLUMINATION but in a different color. In other words a reds light would simply illuminate objects but the color would be different.
In other words, if a deer were sitting beside me in a chair and I turned on a "RED" light I would see *red* illumination and the dewer qould see *grey* illumination. THEY COULD SEE,,,, RIGHT

This question started burning a hole in my mind after a number of strange encounters on my property along with some incidents and many things in the past finally RANG A BELL in my mind.

SO, I conducted a study and did some research to come up with an answer to the burning question:
DO animals *see* red light
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This study is based on a comparison between two equal lights
One RED LIGHT at 250 LUMENS and one WHITE LIGHT at 250 lumens.
This has nothing to do with comparing 1,000,000 CP SPOT LIGHTS to some other light source. PLEASE don't go off topic with this.

This is GENRAL FACT based on GENERAL SCIENCE and research.
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WHAT HAPPENED to cause this burning question.
PRIMARY REASONS
#1 My resident fox will hunt *IN* the red light but will only hunt *AROUND* the white light. It stays clear of the white light ignores the red light.
#2 In the white light eyes won't glow in the red light they glow like fire.

Lots of other factors went into why my mind finally CLICKED on this.
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To conduct a study I needed a *CONTROL* to base facts -- and I needed scientific research.

The *CONTROL* is based on what we know as *FACT*.

#1, We know for a fact that with full spectrum light (sunlight) we see fine as do all animals in general. Thats a fact, when we turn ono a flashlight we see the ILLUMINATION or the OBJECTS the light illuminates.

#2 INFRA-RED We know for a fact, that when an INFRA RED light is turned on we DO NOT see the the ILLUMINATION. No OBJECTS are illumnated. Everything remains DARK.

#3 With a black light or blue light we see thebottom end of the light spectrum. WHITE objects are like bright ghosts while dark objects remain invisible.

You must VISUALIZE these controls!
When 1,000,000 candle power INFRA RED LIGHT is turned on WE SEE NOTHING! We can see the light source, in other words if you look directly at the light you can see a dim glow, thats it. Even though the light is illuminating TONS of stuff, it remains INVISIBLE!
That is a FACT,, a *CONTROL* to base findings.

#4 INFRA-RED will not dialate our pupils! Watch TV when they film with INFRA-RED, the PUPIL remains fully dialated. WHY, be cause we don't detect the light.
that is a "CONTRO" to base findings.

With this general control we can go to science to find out what WAVE LENGTHS animals have and base that wave length to what we know is FACT from the *CONTROL FACTS*

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DEER and most all animals are basically COLOR BLIND.
IN DAYLIGHT utalizing the full light spectrum they see shades of GREY and limited shades of GREEN and BLUE on the BOTTOM END of the WAVE SPECTRUM SCALE. IN other words a *RED BERRY* is not INVISIBLE they see a GRAY BERRY (shade of gray). The berrry is visible.

Based on scientific research they are completely COLR BLIND to the RED WAVE LENGTH! Its a flat line
What does this mean If they can see the berry in daylight, then casn they see OBJECTS illuminated with a red light

The answer, based on SCIENCE and FACTS. is that when a red light is ON it is absolutely no different than when a INFRA RED light is on around us. Accorindg to science and what we KNOW from the CONTROL is that to an animal RED LIGHT is completely INVISIBLE.
They can see the "LIGHT SOURCE" as a dim shade of GRAY, other than that, its still dark.

Can they see a green light, based on science YES they can.
They can detect low end color spectrum such as green and blue shades of grey/black.

SO, to finalize this I put it to the test.
I got my white light and my red light and I took it to the ones who know best. MY DOGS and my NEIGHBORS cattle
REPEATED TESTS
Shine the white light (rated a class III LASER please advise caution) in the dogs eyes and they clearly turn away! It clearly bothers them,
The red light,, their eyes will not DIALATE and they show absolutely no sign that the light exists
the same with my cat, I tried not to harm any of my pets eyes with these LEDs OK,

MY ANSWER, thats why i have a ton of photos and personal viewings with my resident FOX hunting under the RED LIGHT but NEVER enters the WHITE LIGHT!

One more stunning conclusion.
I could see better using the red light (250 lumens) than I could my white light (250 lumens). This made absolutely NO SENSE AT ALL!
Why could I see with greater detail ini the red light as opposed to the white light when our use WHITE light *better*.
the answer was in the science. The wave length of our eyes to RED is a sharp peak. Its as high as WHITE but falls much sharper. In other words oour eyes become fully saturated with red and dialation is LIMITED!
Therefore, when using the red, I could see not only in the RED ILLUMINATION AREA but anytime I glanced into NON ILLUMINATED AREAS I could still see because my eyes DID NOT have to adjust
SO when using the white lightm my eyes DIALATED,, restricting the amount of usable light I casn SEE THE WHITE LIGHT but when you FOCUS into it your eye dialates. SO, with equal illumination 250 vs 250 lumens, I could see GREATER DETAIL with BIG RED high coverage than I could the WHITE HIGH COVERAGE!

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Last of all was my consideration and thoughts of a COLOR BLIND HUMAN.
Just so happens I have "SOME" answers to that also. I did not research color blindnessin humans.
I have relative right down the road who is color blind. Turn on a red light, he can't see JACK sitting in a chair right in front of him.
I have sold other lights to customers and COLOR BLIND customers have a very hard time using red.
I think there our different degrees of color bilndesses in humans, so it would be difficult to come to conclusions.

IF YOU ARE COLOR BLIND please shed some light (no pun intended) on how well you see using a RED LED FLASHLIGHT?
_________________
KEVIN RYER
OWNER TEXASBOARS and TEXASBOARS FEEDERLIGHTS.
WORK ALL DAY HUNT ALL NIGHT (TM)

[TexasBoars]

WITH THIS FINDING,
I feel coompelled to issue a heart felt apology for MISSINFORMING my customers and my readers when they asked if the animals could see RED LIGHT.
Or providing information based on animals detecting RED light VS WHITE light.

It is stunningly clear that with red, the animals can see the LIGHT SOURCE but they can not see the LIGHT or anything the light is ILLUMINATING. In exactly the same fashon we can the see the INFR RED light source but can not see any ILLUMINATION from the light itself (other than an infr-red light source and a red light source will appear as a GREY OBJECT rather than RED).

It is clear that my mature hogs, smart hogs are very wary of the white light, yet pay absolutely no attention the redlight!

YES, deer can see the INFRA RED light *source* when it comes on! It scares my deer every time it comes on! YET, they walk around in a RED light completely oblivious to its illumination.
The same with the fox and coyote
_________________
KEVIN RYER
OWNER TEXASBOARS and TEXASBOARS FEEDERLIGHTS.
WORK ALL DAY HUNT ALL NIGHT (TM)

[CyberSniper]

It has been known for a long time that red light does not mess up your
night vision like white light does, yep.

[edro20]

True about red light and night vision. Pilots are instructed to avoid white light before night flying for at least 30 minutes. Red filtered flashlights are used aboard aircraft during night flights.

Here's a cool way to actually see infared light. This won't work with all digital cameras, but you can take a digital camera and point it at the front end of your TV remote and push the buttons on the remote. You will see the pulsating infared LED's on the remote flashing away. Use the volume up and down buttons as they emit a continuous signal.

[RL]

Interesting information Kevin ... thanks.

[s10goes10s]

yes great info, thanks kevin. but does any one know why animals will tolerate a flash from a game cam going off in their face all night but boogie when they see the infra-red source?
_________________
I shall not be in fringe

[mley1]

[txbigbossman]

Interesting theory/fact there Kevin. Thanks for sharing it with us.
_________________
Just my 2 cents worth with a nickel rebate.
Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.

[Fanman55]

I found this to be a very informative read, I learned quite a bit from this. About a week or so ago I suggested to someone that I occasionally hunt with that he switch to a red filter over his spot light because I read somewhere else that the piggy's don't see it as easily. He told me that he has tried red, but with limited success. He said it often spooked the pigs. He has since switched to a yellow lens filter and he said it works great, much better than the red one. So, my question is, Does anyone use yellow? Has anyone has success with a yellow lens?

[PaulB]

Definitely good stuff, Kevin. Given all you've said, then there is no doubt why my red led TEXASBOARS FEEDER LITE always out performed the white/blue one.

--Paul
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4B Ranch - Ovalo, Texas
WWW.4B-RANCH.COM

[VTDW]

Hawgs I shoot on the private land I hunt and hawgs never show any nervousness even with the red light directed right at them. Sometimes you can tell they know the light source is there but do not react other than to look right at the source and go back to feeding or rubbing. One outfitter's hawgs were so nervous they would bolt when the light was turned on and not even directed right at them. This supports Kevin's words that they can see the light source only. Just my experience.

Dave
_________________
2011 - 13
2012 - 13

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v354/vtdw1/
www.marlinowners.com

[timhicks]

I dont want to say I read all the way through this,, I didnt,,but that said,,,the bowhunter light that I have is white,..,I have seen hogs under the light seen hogs in pics of my game cam and have never had a problem ..I like the white betterat times but the red works better in the dewy mornings and in a mist..I aint color blind but I think the way the lights if set right it will not matter the color
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Pro staff www.hawglite.com
Pro staff www.INHEATSCENTS.net

[SeansGottheCamera1]

hmmm, i guess the only question i have is, do you sell the red lenses by themselves to replace my clear ones?lol. thanks for the info kevin, good stuff.
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www.easttexashogdoggers.com
TDHA Member

[TexasBoars]

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[gonehuntin68]

It sure is funny how pigs in different areas react to light differently. I have a infer red cam and the pigs dont care. Ive had them feed for hours 3 to 10ft infront of it. I also use a red light in my ground blind to help see all the mice running around and the pigs dont care and dont seem to see me moving around to get a shot with my bow. I think it has some to do with the pigs life experiences with light weather good or bad as to how they react. thats just my experience and thier are a lot of other people on this site with way more experience than me.
_________________
Rob

I love all animals.
They taste great

[ghostrider1964]

I hunt with PVS 14 night vision and sometimes use infrared light source to pick up eyes as they approach...Everytime I turn that light on it startles the pigs and they run, if it is on as they come in it has not posed a problem except for larger pigs that tend to lay back until I turn it off. I have done this several time and we videoed also. Turn IR on and they freak out....
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HOGS FEAR ME!

[ZetaWill]

Great post!
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"But be doers of the word and not hearers only..." James 1:22

www.purebodynutrition.net

[drdale]

I use a Hawglite from a tree stand usually. I have used the red, blue filters, and no filter. Pigs are usually no further than 10 yards. My experience is that the pigs do not respond to any of them. Now I do not use the filters as the light is brighter without them.

A couple nights ago I was in the stand after it got completely dark. Two pigs came by and were pretty spooky and ran away twice. They came back the third time. I could barely see the dark shapes of the pigs. My game camera flash went off and they did not react. I turned on the white Hawglite on the pigs that were 8 yards away. The pigs did not react at all, and went on eating. I had to wait a bit for my eyes to adjust as it was so bright.

I have had similar things happen often. I read others have different results, but maybe the pigs in Hawaii are more used to lights, I don't know.

[bearintex]

Kevin, I sent you a message through the feederlight website last week about a red DIY kit. Did you get it? Also got a proposition for you, I might call you next week about it.
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Thanks,
Barrett Hall

[texastusker]

STICK WITH RED LIGHT I HAVE USED RED LIGHT FOR 20 YEARS NOW AND HAVE NEVER HAD A PIG PAY ANY ATTENTION TO IT WHAT SO EVER BUT YOU TURN A WHITE LIGHT ON THEM AND THEY WILL RUN LIKE COCKROACHES.

[howie1968]

i like kevins red light the bow hunter 2 watrt is awesome killed quite a few hogs under it
_________________
magnus classic bradheads
US Army 10th Mountain division
Fort Drum, NY
Desert storm

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[bearintex]