UKC

Another thought from Devon roadtrip (see Rubbish Survey)....how well can sheep see if it's really pitch black? You pick them out with your headlights all lying down in their field which got me wondering what happens if they get disturbed...do they all run around in wooly pandemonium bouncing off each other or can they echolocate with baaing?
And before anyone gets the wrong end of the stick I am not planning some sheep worrying..merely curious...

In reply to doz:

sheep worrying huh? sounds like a Welsh or New Zealand condition rather than Devonian.

In reply to doz:
A quick scan suggests they can't.

https://www.google.co.uk/?gws_rd=ssl#q=can+sheep+see+in+the+dark

In reply to doz:

I'm not above going for a wander in the Peak district with a headtorch in the dark, when the days are too brief and the long winters nights are an invitation to dance. I can confirm that sheep's eyes reflect light, much like cats only greener. I therefore conclude that they can see in the dark, because cats can, and also that they're basically woolly zombies.

In reply to doz:

merely curious.. come on now, anything you'd like to say?

With my new head torch I would suggest that they can't see in the dark. It blinds everyone and everything that look into its beam.

In reply to Alyson:
Funny you mentioning zombies, I always think their eyes have a reddish hint to them when they reflect light, it's vaguely sinister.

In reply to Timmd:
what in your quick scan suggests they can't?
could a zombie remember 50+ faces for 2 years?

In reply to malk:
The bits which say sheep don't like going into dark places.

Edit: It was only a scan and a suggestion though, as this seems to imply they can see in the dark more than we can, but they apparently don't like going into dark sheds.

http://www.chaosscience.org.uk/experiments/sheepseyeballs

In reply to Timmd:

that's about contrast rather than intensity?

In reply to malk:
Possibly yes. Interesting.

In reply to Timmd:
this says they have rather good night vision with a wide angle view and very good motion detection..
http://archives.evergreen.edu/webpages/curricular/2011-2012/m2o1112/web/she...

In reply to Alyson:


Is that dancing with sheep?
We don't do that in Scotland.....

In reply to malk:

Yes it does, that'll teach me to trust a brief scan of google results.

In reply to doz:
I'm say they can't see in pitch black from experience from when I handled sheep. They don't for example lamb in the pitch black but do so with just a little light which is partly why sheep farmers who house provide a low intensity light overnight.

Foxes tend to hunt in very low light levels as this confuses the sheep - they flock together in very low light levels - and they have more success. It was rare for a fox to hunt sheep as a food source in normal daylight.

Also it you went into the flock in very low light levels they either remained static or ran to flock usually circling and getting stressed out.

In reply to Climbing Pieman:

Interesting, so good night vision and seeing in the dark aren't quite the same things.

In reply to Timmd:

The thing is, and I may be wrong, is that eyes all require some amount of light in order to see, just that some animals have eyes that are better for seeing in very low light levels than those in other animals. If you look at animals that live in caves, they often have evolved so they don't have eyes or only have very rudimental eyes due to the absence of light or extreme low levels of it. I guess some animals could "see" in the dark - bats use echolocation to "see" and hunt prey, some snakes use heat to detect prey so you could argue they "see" using that it's just in a way that we can't really comprehend.

In reply to Timmd:
From my experience the natural lambing time mainly was first light which is sensible in nature as it allows the lamb to be up and moving before danger of predators start in the daylight. Shepherds on night shift under low level lights were often very busy overnight with lambing c/w the day shift. They had to be very careful though overnight with movement and more so than during the day. You had to move very slowly within the flock not to stress out the sheep hence why low level lights were used as they could (presumably) see enough not to be concerned. You could wander through the flock in low level light and they would rarely get up and move. If no light was provided they reacted to noise and that usually meant trouble for the handler!

In reply to PamPam:


That's why sheep go baaahh more at night. It's just echo location that humans can hear.

In reply to Timmd:

To be a bit pedantic, "seeing in the dark" is not a thing. There is no creature that can see when there is no light at all.

There are various animals that can see wavelengths that the human eye can't detect though (infra red, ultraviolet and so on) and also various creatures that make their own light through bioluminescence (thought that is generally less about seeing and more about being seen).

In reply to doz:



Oh no, dancing with the stars and the frost and the sweeping majesty of the earth. The sheep just get in the way and try to eat your brains.

In reply to Alyson:


How wonderfully poetic! But your sheep sound mighty scary...possibly good grounds for keeping your climbing helmet on?

In reply to doz:



No, it's just wham baaaaaaaaaaaaaam . . .

In reply to doz:

Sometimes a firmly attached Grivel Salamander is the only thing standing between me and a grisly zombie sheep death.

In reply to doz:

Are you sure this isn't a hidden request to see if you can creep up on them under the cover of darkness?

In reply to gethin_allen:

No...Alyson's put me right off them...