Reaction to Light - Two Questions

[TikkaSikka]

I hunt a lot and use visible light and IR in this process.

To things have noticed.

* Occasionally when out of the vehicle picking up dropped game, one or other of us will catch a white light in the eyes and the reaction is...immediate and border line painful. Yet the same light when shone at say fox or a deer seems not to bother them at all or cause any discomfort. Any ideers (pun intended) as to why there is such a difference between human eyes and a variety of creatures.

** On the other side of h coin, I use IR and is there any scientific data that alludes to what light frequencies certain species are able to detect? I recall in my early days using Russian gen 1 tubed gear, rabbits would react to an IR light being switched on.

Modern units do not see to have such reaction nowadays. And source glow - the dull red glow the human eye can see at certain NM and the higher frequencies we cant see....can animal see it because thye have different sensitivity. What nM is TRULY totally covert to All creatures ?

 

[herektir]

To the first question I can't answer, for the second newer game cams use 1050nm or higher ir and I see no reaction when in videos or pictures from any species.

 

[Lumen83]

* Occasionally when out of the vehicle picking up dropped game, one or other of us will catch a white light in the eyes and the reaction is...immediate and border line painful. Yet the same light when shone at say fox or a deer seems not to bother them at all or cause any discomfort. Any ideers (pun intended) as to why there is such a difference between human eyes and a variety of creatures.

Their eyes are actually way more sensitive to light due to the fact that they have way more rods than cones. Rods are much more sensitive and pick up low light and motion better but not color vision. I would say its less to do with them not being bothered at all and more to do with them having no idea what to do, and being just about completely blinded. Not everything in survival is actually fight or flight. At some point in the evolution of this species, standing completely still when spooked was more conducive to survival than running away like a madman and making a bunch of noise and having a predator chase them. So, I would answer this question in part by saying that it is a matter of the biology of the eye producing reaction that brings out the survival instinct of "FREEZE".

 

[Modernflame]

* Occasionally when out of the vehicle picking up dropped game, one or other of us will catch a white light in the eyes and the reaction is...immediate and border line painful. Yet the same light when shone at say fox or a deer seems not to bother them at all or cause any discomfort.

Inverse square law? The intensity of light diminishes with the inverse of the square of the distance. You are much closer to your handheld light than the fox?

 

[wjv]

I've shined a 1000 lumens (focused) into the eyes of a raccoon at 20-25 feet and it didn't seem to phase it one bit.

 

[bykfixer]

I shined a 2200 lumen one on a racoon stealing bait from a trap I'd set and it left me a "thank you for lighting my dinner" turd.
It looked at me briefly then went about continuing it's klepto mission. Strobe only irratated me.

 

[Tejasandre]

I shined 4000 lumen at dusk at my lawn guy, he kept mowing.

 

[ven]

I shined a 2200 lumen one on a racoon stealing bait from a trap I'd set and it left me a "thank you for lighting my dinner" turd.
It looked at me briefly then went about continuing it's klepto mission. Strobe only irratated me.

:laughing: classic

 

[eh4]

We're a primarily visual species, while most animals that you'll run into at night are not. It may be that their vision is mostly knocked offline by the excessive light, but they are less alarmed than they would be by sound, smell, or vibration.
With sight being my primary sense, if a howling wind (or motorcycle) comes up and I can still see, it's much less incapacitating than if the lights went out, or I were blinded by light.
Deer really don't comprehend cars at all, they're extremely good at what they do, but there's nothing in their toolbox to process 55+ mph.
Deer in the headlights freezing in place are using a pretty tried and true evolutionary tech of doing nothing until there's a better read on the situation (predator/ not, pursuing me/ not).
For fun I've approached a raccoon that was raiding a cat dish. Using a bright light held to the side of me I was able to approach while it stared into the light; my boot made a tiny scratching sound from grit on the concrete and the spell was broken, it turned and bolted.
If deer were techies they'd be posting on forums about the best sonic and olfactory amplifiers available.