Why is it believed that the bulls react to the color red. Bull (cattle) Why the bull does not like red



Bullfighting is a magnificent spectacular spectacle, like a pagan dance, so religious and at the same time aggressive, filled with beauty and grace, but cruel and bloody. Thousands of people freeze in anticipation of an amazing performance and their hearts begin to beat in the same rhythm - after all, the culmination of this performance is death.

Here two rivals appear in the arena - a man and a bull. Another second, and a dangerous duel should begin between a beautiful, powerful, courageous and proud animal, symbolizing primitive instincts, life's difficulties, hardships and everything dark that exists in life, and a torero dressed in a magnificent, reflecting the rays of the sun, snow-white "suit Sveta".

All spectators watch with bated breath the dangerous deadly duel of two symbolic forces - darkness and light, where a man masterfully evades the bull's blows with the help of a bright red muleta (a piece of cloth attached to a stick), which provokes the bull and hides the silhouette of the matador, and the obligatory culmination will be the victory of the magnificent bullfighter and the death of the bull.

Spectators of the bullfight are convinced that it is the red color that drives the bull into an uncontrollable rage and nothing can convince them of this - these are the traditions. But every bullfighter knows that bulls are color blind by nature and do not distinguish colors, and the red muleta is just a tribute to tradition and a way to capture the attention of the stands excited by this magnificent spectacle.

The mammalian eye consists of two types of photoreceptors - cones, which allow us to distinguish colors, and rods, which allow us to see the size and shape of objects. In humans and primates, the number of cones in the retina is very large, which allows them to distinguish colors. But colors in the life of ungulates are not of great importance, and mother nature has deprived the eyes of these animals, as an element unnecessary for them, of the number of cones that allow you to distinguish colors.

Why does a bull in a bullfight rush all the same to a red muleta? The thing is that for bullfighting, special bulls of the El Toro Bravo breed (translated as “brave bull”) are grown, which are especially aggressive, angry, mobile, but do not differ in special intelligence, are stupid and therefore predictable in a duel with a torero, which very important.

And here comes the climax - in the arena, the dexterous matador plays the last deadly game with the angry bull with the help of a red muleta, which, with its movement, brings the bull into an indescribable rage. The viewer freezes, watching every movement of the scarlet muleta, which is visible even on the last rows of the amphitheater. The flickering of red matter and the fury of the animal lead the viewer into indescribable delight - they crave the climax of the action, the viewer is waiting for the blood that is about to spill!

The red color of the material on the muleta is just a clever trick that brings the crowd of spectators into such ecstasy, makes the spectacle bright and memorable. And the bull does not care what color the muleta is - blue, red, yellow or white - he still does not distinguish colors, but only the frantic movement of matter and the crazy howl of the stands drunk on the bloody spectacle irritates him.

You have probably seen how in cartoons they wave a red rag in front of a bull? To which the bull begins to get angry, dig the ground with his hoof, and in the end, putting his horns forward, rushes to this very rag. Or watched on TV, (and who was lucky and live), the Spanish bullfight. When all the same things actually happen. Then everything looks even more impressive. A fearless bullfighter is waving a stick with a red cloak thrown over it in front of a bull. But when he runs to the rag, the bullfighter will have time to dodge at the last moment. And yet, why do bulls dislike red so much?

In fact, the bulls absolutely do not care what color the rag is waved in front of them.. All bulls are colorblind. But what then drives the bulls into such a frenzy? The answer is simple: the movement of the muleta fabric (this is the stick with the red cloak). In the movement of the rag bulls, perhaps. They see some kind of danger and threat. They are annoyed by any movement in general - they perceive both a person and a rag as potential enemies. Therefore, if you suddenly find yourself next to a bull, it is better to stop and freeze so as not to become a victim of his furious attack.

Interesting fact: Spectacular presentation of bullfighting will not end with success with every bull. A special breed of bulls is grown for her. It is called "el toro bravo", which translates as "brave". Bulls of this breed grow up aggressive, fast, angry, but far from sparkling with intelligence. Each of their steps is easy to predict, which is an important part of the presentation. It is possible that with a bull of a different breed, the bullfight ended in tears or did not take place at all.

What is red used for then?

The red color of the canvas is a cunning trick that managed to deceive a lot of people. It adds a lot of spectacle to the show. Agree, everything would not look so bright and exciting if the rag was white, green or yellow.. On the other hand, the red color attracts the attention of the audience more strongly, setting them up in advance for the danger of bloodshed. So the audience is more worried about the bullfighter and is more rejoicing and surprised when he was once again able to defeat the ferocious bull.

Now you know that the bull is not irritated in any way by the red color, and he is furious only from the persistent movement of the stick in the hands of the master of his craft. I hope the article was informative and interesting, and you have one less inexplicable riddle!

It is believed that bulls react aggressively to scarlet shades. Actually it is not. Along with all other representatives, they suffer from color blindness. Then why don't bulls like red if they can't really see it?

Myth busting

In 2007, MythBusters on the Discovery Channel tested a live bull in three separate experiments. Their goal was to find out why the bulls do not like the color red and whether it really is. The essence of the first experiment was as follows: three stationary flags of red, blue and white were installed in the arena. The animal attacked all three, regardless of the shade. Three dummies were next, and again the illegible bull left no one unattended. Finally, the time has come for living people. There were three people in the arena, the one in red stood motionless, the other two cowboys moved in a circle. The bull began to pursue the moving daredevils, and ignored the motionless "red".

Why bulls don't like

Spanish matadors began using a small red cape in bullfighting in the early 17th century. Since then, probably, people have decided that it is this shade that turns a peaceful animal into a real beast. The fact is that scarlet shades are able to disguise blood, and sometimes there is a lot of it on the battlefield. Why don't bulls like red? Does he scare them? Will they react so violently to blue or, for example, green? In fact, this is not a matter of psychology or physiology, animals do not care: they only react to movements when they feel that something can threaten them.

Color doesn't matter

The color is what the audience pays more attention to than the bull. Firstly, richly embroidered costumes and red capes are considered an important part of the culture and tradition of bullfighting. Just as sports teams always wear the same colors, scarlet capes are seen as part of the bullfighting uniform, not because bulls don't like red. The reasons are also practical. Bullfighting is one of the most popular and controversial customs in Spain. Often this exciting action ends with the death of the bull, and the red color, although not strong, masks an already cruel performance.

The bull attacks the one who moves

The question "Why do bulls react to red?" is not entirely correct, since this color, and also green, they do not distinguish at all. They are angered by the movements. Moreover, the bulls involved in the bullfight come from a very aggressive breed (El Toro Bravo). They are selected in such a way that any sudden movements can piss them off and force them to rush to the attack. Even if the cape is a calm sky-blue color, the bull will still attack if it is waved in front of his nose. So if a matador is dressed in red and stands still, and another matador is dressed in any other color (even white) and starts to move, the bull will attack the one in white (the one who is moving).

"Like a bull on a red rag"

Many people still believe that as soon as a bull sees something red, his eyes will immediately begin to bleed, he will begin to breathe heavily and scratch the ground with his hoof, and then, worst of all, a powerful beast will rush headlong at the one who is his annoys. There is even a saying: about someone who quickly becomes enraged, they say that he reacts like a bull to a red rag. However, this is nothing more than a misunderstanding.

It doesn’t matter what color the rag is: if you move it and the bull notices it, then at first he will just be wary, but if you start waving it in all directions, then expect trouble. This is a common defensive reaction. The animal perceives the movement as a threat, and it has no choice but to defend itself. By the way, if you wave a white cloth, the effect can be even more noticeable, since this color is brighter than red and the bull will see it faster.

Instruction

The established and widespread opinion about the irritating effect of red objects on the bull is taken as an axiom. True, we are talking about a statement made outside of scientific circles. Researchers of the peculiarities of vision declare with confidence that animals for the most part are deprived of the beautiful, from a human point of view, ability to see the world in bright colors.

And although there is also no unity in the scientific world, the presence of points of intersection of views allows us to talk about weak color vision, and some representatives of the squirrel family. But what about the relatives of the ancient tours - domesticated bulls and? It turns out that the color scheme of the bullish world consists of a part of the red spectrum of low intensity and, in descending order in perception, gray, green and blue shades, more precisely, reminders of them. The structure of the eye of cattle, as the subfamily of bulls is called in animal husbandry, indicates the presence in the back of the retina of two types of nerve photoreceptor cells: rods responsible for black and white twilight vision, and cones providing daytime color perception of images.

So what makes the two-horned giant rage, teased in the first two thirds of the bullfight with a large double-sided cloak (pink-yellow or pink-blue), called the “capote”, and in the final part of the third - with a small muleta cloak made of bright red flannel. Not a color at all, but an obsessive waving. The presence of a "blind spot" in the field of vision in the nose area, a good reaction to movement and poor vision of distant details irritate an animal that already has a bad temper.

One of the secrets that never fail to irritate Toro is the smell. The red muleta retains traces of blood, invisible to the spectators of the bullfight, left after previous fights. Sensitive sense of smell warns the animal of danger, makes it look for the enemy, become furious and attack the irritant, which is the bullfighter or other participants in the battle - picadors, banderilleros, horses ... Fortunately for two-legged opponents, the bad eyesight of the bull most often makes these attacks fruitless. But this is not always the case.

When in conversation someone wishes to emphasize a vivid form of a person's dislike for something, it is often said that "it irritates him like the red color of a bull."

Everyone is used to the fact that the red color, to put it mildly, does not set the bulls in a benevolent mood, but the animals themselves would be very surprised by this integral feature of their character.

And if someone does not believe in this, then let him read this article.

Aggression is not just a mood for the bull or just one of many character traits. For any self-respecting bull, aggression is something of a life credo.

As early as two years of age, young bulls tend to show spontaneous outbursts of rage. It would seem that for such a powerful animal as a bull that eats by nibbling grass, there is no point in showing rage, but this is so, and we will now understand the reasons for such behavior.

Why does everyone think that bulls are aggressive towards red, maybe vice versa - they strive for it?

The reason for bullish aggressiveness lies in the genes of the bull, which he inherited from his ancestors. And the ancestors of this cattle clearly did not belong to the number of insignificant animals, being not just anyone, but ancient wild aurochs. This animal was much larger than the current cows and bulls and weighed about a ton, being also armed with mighty horns and an almost impenetrable skin. Once the tours abundantly inhabited the forest-steppes and forests throughout Europe, North Africa and Asia Minor.

The huge size and aggressive behavior allowed the aurochs to keep predators at a considerable distance from their herds, and besides, it was useful during mating tournaments, reinforcing the fighting spirit of the fighters.

In general, it must be said that aggressive behavior is much more often demonstrated by herbivores than predators, especially if they are large ungulates. In the modern world, it is generally accepted that predators are the most dangerous among the inhabitants of the forest, but this is not true.

Predators show aggression mostly towards those who are part of their diet. And to everyone else who is not included in it, including a person, they are indifferent, and, as from everything that is not interesting to them, they prefer to stay away. The most that can cause, for example, a person in, for example, a wolf is fear or irritation, which in most cases ends in the flight of the animal.

But herbivores are a completely different matter: having a large number of enemies and living in large herds, they are used to fighting off a large number of people who want to feast on their flesh every day and therefore were forced to give a tough rebuff. This was well known to the ancient hunters, who considered the most dangerous inhabitants of the forest, not wolves and not lynxes, and not even bears, but namely huge ferocious aurochs and no less ferocious wild boars and elks. But, unfortunately, the aggressiveness, which helped the aurochs so much in “contacts” with other animals, turned out to be useless in “communication” with humans.

Thanks to hunting and deforestation, as well as thanks to the idea of ​​\u200b\u200banimals as soulless and dangerous creatures that should be exterminated in order to protect the life of the "crown of creation", the tours were completely exterminated by the seventeenth century. And in Africa and Asia Minor, it was exterminated even earlier. However, despite the disappearance of this beautiful animal, the soul of its ancient wild relative still lives in every modern domestic bull.

The fighting nature of the bull has long been used by people so that applicants for the title of alpha male can flaunt their courage. Hunting large ungulates has become synonymous with courage, even when done from cover and with a scoped rifle.

Apparently, the creators of bullfighting began to reason in the same way, who, however, did not hide in the bushes, offering those who wish to tickle their nerves to meet the bull face to face, though not without weapons, but armed with a sword, which the bullfighter must kill bull. To do this, the bullfighter first teases the animal with a piece of bright red matter, which is called "capote", arousing aggression in him.

At the same time, the bull is trying so hard to pierce the capote with his horns that a strong impression is created that it is the red color that irritates him. However, this opinion was questioned, and capotes of other colors were used as an experiment. There was no change in reaction from the bull, and the bulls were still desperately rushing on the hood. Then, if the matter is not at all in the color of matter, then what is the matter?

As scientists have found out, bulls have dichromatic vision. Their eyes have only two types of light-sensitive proteins. For comparison, a person has as many as three types of these. And surprisingly, it is the third type of protein, which is absent in bulls, that is closest to the red end of the spectrum. For this reason, bulls will be able to distinguish green from blue, but they cannot distinguish red from green.

Therefore, any fabric of a bright color can annoy the bull. And it is for this reason that shepherds and shepherds prefer to wear clothes of black and gray, nondescript tones during the performance of their professional activities. However, the real rage in the bull is not the color of matter, but the fact that it sways.

However, in the same way, the bull will be annoyed by any rapid movement of a person, object or animal.

So the real danger will be not so much the one who stands next to the bull, dressed up in all red, but the one who begins to rush about in a panic in front of this animal that does not like fuss. In this case, the bull will really be tempted to “ride” the hurried man on his horns, which they are trying to do, during another fun traditional for Spain with the participation of bulls - encierro - when people run along the fenced streets of the city trying to escape from specially released into such an impromptu corral of bulls.

To irritate the animal, it would be enough just to run in front of him, then the bull would rush at the aggressor without any rags. It would seem that the matador would not even have to hamper his movements, holding the cowl, which is completely useless in combat terms, but in this case, the mortality among the matadors would be much higher, since the bull would aim not at the red rag that irritates him, but directly at the matador . And in such a confrontation, even a man armed with a sword, the chances of winning are extremely doubtful. That is why capote was “invented” so that the bull would fight not with a person, but with a piece of matter.

It should be noted that if you look at the bullfight carefully, you will notice that the matador actively swinging the capote moves very smoothly.

His movements are more like dance steps from some old minuet than the movements of a fighter. How the matadors came to the conclusion that precisely such movements should be made during a fight with a bull can hardly be established now, but it is thanks to them that a contrast is created between the smoothly moving matador and the rapidly oscillating matter, which in the overwhelming majority of cases becomes the object of the bull's fury. . Well, if it doesn’t, if the bull is too smart to understand exactly who his true enemy is, or if the matador moves too abruptly, then ... you understand.

In two centuries, sixty-three matadors have died in Spain. Although it's not that much. For comparison, about a hundred thousand times more bulls die in a bullfight, over thirty thousand individuals a year.

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