Guest Anonymous Posted January 18, 2003 Posted January 18, 2003 please settle this debate once and for all. Quote
Poofy Posted January 18, 2003 Posted January 18, 2003 No, dogs cannot see in complete darkeness like a cat. They can however see in low level light better then a human being. Because a dog uses its nose like "eyes" and their olfactory perception is so powerful, they can practically smell their way through a room. Also their wiskers act as "radar" detecting walls or boundries before they tough them...their hearing, is so acute, they can hear shifts in sound and how it carries and also detect the presence of people and or other animals. Can they SEE with their eyes? no...but they can SEE with their other senses. Quote
Guest Anonymous Posted January 18, 2003 Posted January 18, 2003 Actually, no mammal can see in "complete" darkness. Complete darkness means the absense of all visible wavelengths of light. If there is no visible light, then there is nothing to see. Dog and cats (as well as many other animals) *can* see much better in low-light conditions. Many animals have a special adaptation which is that the inside back surface of their eyeball is reflective. Any light which doesn't get absorbed by the rods and cones in the eye (hence detected) bounces off this reflective surface and makes another pass by the rods and cones. Thus, they have a "second chance" at seeing the light if it isn't absorbed the first time. This is why your dogs eye "glow" when you shine a light in their face. About the closest thing to true night vision is found in rattlesnakes. Rattlesnakes have small heat sensing pits on their face which allows them to detect heat. Even in total darkness they can make a strike on a mouse (or other warm blooded animal) because they can "see" the infrared radiation. [quote name='Poofy']No, dogs cannot see in complete darkeness like a cat. They can however see in low level light better then a human being. Because a dog uses its nose like "eyes" and their olfactory perception is so powerful, they can practically smell their way through a room. Also their wiskers act as "radar" detecting walls or boundries before they tough them...their hearing, is so acute, they can hear shifts in sound and how it carries and also detect the presence of people and or other animals. Can they SEE with their eyes? no...but they can SEE with their other senses.[/quote] Quote
ArtfulDodger Posted January 18, 2003 Posted January 18, 2003 A Very pedantic topic! nothing is visible without some sort of light, parrot's feathers glow in ultra violet wavelengths, urine trails leave ultra violet traces, a snake's jacobsen organ allows it to test the air for chemicals that might mean prey. It all depends on what your definition of "seeing" is. Quote
Luka-pop Posted January 18, 2003 Posted January 18, 2003 The only thing I realized, that whenever i turn off the lights, my dog's reaction doesn't change one bit. He won't look around, or look up, or wander, or anything. Same thing when I flip the lights back on. No reaction, what so ever. And no, he's not blind. Quote
Guest Anonymous Posted January 18, 2003 Posted January 18, 2003 Wow! What an informational topic! I knew that the dog's eyes sorta "collect" the little bit of light they can and such, and that's why they seem to "glow" in the "dark", but I didn't know they whole thing on it! Quote
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