{"id":434,"date":"2022-12-18T01:00:07","date_gmt":"2022-12-18T01:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinggiants.org\/?p=434"},"modified":"2023-01-25T18:55:40","modified_gmt":"2023-01-25T18:55:40","slug":"can-deer-see-in-the-dark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinggiants.org\/can-deer-see-in-the-dark\/","title":{"rendered":"How Well Can Deer See In The Dark? Night Vision & Colors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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You find yourself deep inside the forest in the dead of night. You look around, what can you see? Probably not a lot, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you give your eyes a minute to adjust, maybe you\u2019ll see the outline of a couple of trees and perhaps a few of your immediate surroundings. If you\u2019re lucky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enough to be safe, though? Doubtful. With our weak and feeble eyes, it\u2019s probably a good job that we have the luxury of a warm and cozy home to retreat to during the dark of the night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deer don\u2019t quite have that luxury. There\u2019s no comfy bed and warm comforter to wrap themselves up in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are no locks to doors to keep them safe from the predators that roam their habitat<\/a>. So it\u2019s probably quite fortunate that their eyesight is far better than ours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This heightened sight allows them to navigate through the dense forestry easily and effortlessly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, yes, deer can see in the dark! But how? How do their impressive night vision eyes work? What can they see? And how far does their field of vision reach? Let\u2019s find out.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/path><\/svg><\/span>How Do The Eyes Of Deer Work?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For understandable reasons, deers eyes work quite differently from yours and mine. So, let\u2019s strip things back to the basics and take a look at how these incredible creatures’ eyes actually work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to eyes, any eyes, there are two main parts that are responsible for your ability to see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You have rods and cones. The purpose of the cones in your eyes is to see color whereas rods allow you to see light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You and I have tons of cones in our eyes which is why we can see so many beautiful different colors. What we don\u2019t have all that much of is rods which is why deep in the dark of the forest we can\u2019t see very much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For deer, it\u2019s pretty much the exact opposite. They don\u2019t have many cones but they do have an abundance<\/a> of rods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So while they may not be able to appreciate the stunning color of wildflowers growing in their habitat, they can see a lot more light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And this means that they can see any approaching figures in the dark. And let\u2019s face it, that\u2019s a lot more useful for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Can Deer See At Night?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Okay, so now that we\u2019ve got the basics down, we know that deer can\u2019t see many colors but they can see lots of light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what does that actually mean? What do they see in the hours when the sun has said its goodbyes behind the horizon?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, it\u2019ll depend on what light is available for their eyes to see. But basically, if the light is good enough, they\u2019ll see exactly what you or I could see in the light, just with less color.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, this is where things get a little more advanced, and a whole lot cooler. Deer have an uncanny ability to see motion<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While they do see much better in the dark than humans, deer still don\u2019t have what could be described as the best eyesight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s put it this way, if we had the vision of deer, we\u2019d probably book a trip to the opticians since it’s pretty blurry. To make up for the blur, deer compensate with a heightened sense of motion.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This ability to clearly detect motion means that they can easily detect predators. And should a deer sense an obvious motion, it’s likely that they\u2019ll set off into a sprint almost immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So essentially, a deer in a dark forest will be able to see a blurrier colorless version of what you and I would see in the daylight, but despite this, they could also immediately hone in on a bird rustling in a nearby bush. Pretty cool, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/path><\/svg><\/span>How Far Can Deer See In The Dark?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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So, we know that deer can see in the dark, and we\u2019ve also learned about what it is they see. But what about how far that vision of sight expands? Let\u2019s take a closer look. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you ask a hunter the answer to this question, you\u2019ll be told all sorts of answers. There are hunters that\u2019ll claim that a deer has spotted them from hundreds upon hundreds of yards away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others? They\u2019ll say they must be blind because they got so close undetected that they could reach their hand out and touch them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obviously, both of these answers can\u2019t be true. So which is it? Are their eyes like binoculars or are they as blind as bats? I\u2019d say it\u2019s somewhere in between.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deer See as far as 100 to 150 Yards Away<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Each of these hunters has exaggerated their stories slightly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Generally speaking, a deer will be able to see as far as 100 to 150 yards away.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then there is also the matter of light. The more light there is, the further away they can see. So on a bright and light full moon, they could see as far as 200 yards away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Really, though, it\u2019s not so much their eyesight but the placement of their eyes that are responsible for their expansive field of vision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because they have eyes on either side of their face, unlike you and I, they can see from both directions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means that they can typically see around 300 degrees. Pretty impressive in comparison to your ability to see 180 degrees at any one time! <\/p>\n\n\n

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More Deer Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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