HomeElephant RepellentAtskoUV and Reindeer — finally some real science!

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UV and Reindeer — finally some real science! — 1 Comment

  1. Gaffer,

    You have understood the difference between UV reflection and fluorescence, which is more than Atsko has done; however, you need to appreciate that most humans cannot see in the near ultraviolet. Although if you remove the lens of the eye in cataract surgery, you will see in the UV. The adult human lens contains a yellow pigment that absorbs most of the incoming UV wavelengths; children lack the pigment, so they have rudimentary UV vision. OTOH, a white-tailed deer doesn’t have these yellow pigments and is always capable of vision in the ultraviolet. Their flag (tail) is highly UV reflective, enabling them to follow one another at high speed in dim light.

    As for turkeys, they, like most diurnal birds, have four types of cones in their eyes – for red, green, blue, and UV. Ducks, geese, as well. Also trout (an outrageous plug for my book “The New Scientific Angling – Trout and Ultraviolet Vision”).

    Just like visible camouflage, you should use UV camouflage that reflects the same percentage of UV as your surroundings.

    Sorry for the tirade. Have a good weekend.

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