We are used to thinking that dogs have a great sense of smell and cats have sharp eyesight. This is a well-known opinion, which is quite true and even confirmed by scientists. Nevertheless, to consider that cats see simply better than us will not be true. These amazing animals see the world differently. What is the difference between the vision of our four-legged, tailed and baleen friends from human? How do cats see, and why do they orient themselves so well in unfamiliar areas? I must say that ordinary people's ideas about vigilance are not entirely appropriate here, since cats see the world completely different from us.
As cats see in the dark and in the light
To understand how cats see, you need to know some features that distinguish the vision of these amazing animals from ours. Their eyes are mainly adapted for seeing space in the dark. Round and large, with pupils that can narrow and expand, they are somewhat reminiscent of the gaze of owls. This is not surprising: after all, both species of the animal kingdom are considered nocturnal. In bright sunlight, four-legged pets do not distinguish details of objects, but in the dark they have no equal. Cat's eyes are able to see in light ten times lower than what we humans need. Perhaps that is why they choose the most shaded corners in the apartment as their favorite places to relax. Our favorites also hunt in the dark. That would be so, if they lived in the wild, although spilled house Murky and Barsiki can change the routine of activity for the sake of the owners. Moreover, they do not have an urgent need to get food by their labor.
If you live, for example, in a country house, and there are mice, then it is easy to give a suitable example. Everyone knows that rodents that cause so much trouble lead mostly nocturnal life. In the afternoon there is too much noise scaring away the gray animals, so the cat goes hunting after sunset. When all the households fall asleep, and the mice get out of their shelters.
Cats also arrange their mating games in the dark. Spring serenades of cats, sometimes preventing many from sleeping and becoming a byword, are heard mainly at night. This is where the phrase “March Cat” came from, as well as numerous jokes and sayings on the subject.
Based on the foregoing, it will be fair to say that our pets are just nocturnal.
How cats see the world: color or not
The question of how cats see colors and whether they are able to distinguish between them at all, excites many. Until recently, it was believed that cats, like dogs, have poor vision. And they all see in much the same way as we do on black and white TV screens . But scientists have disproved this theory. It turned out that our four-legged friends can distinguish some colors, however, worse than a person. In this cat's vision distinguishes more than 24 shades of gray. The latter is associated with the coat color of those whom cats have hunted from time immemorial: field voles and mice. After gray, in second place is green. Feline distinguishes yellow and blue colors much worse. But in all three cases, they hardly see the difference between them. But red is not able to see at all. However, like many animals. Brightly colored toys are hardly pleasing to the eyes of pets, as we would like.
Other features of cat vision
When playing with your pet, you probably noticed that he reacts most actively to moving the toy horizontally. If you pull the thread or twig up and down, the cat reacts less actively. This behavior is the result of a hunting instinct and one feature of the vision of our four-legged friends. The main prey of cats are rodents, and they move horizontally. The sharp reaction to the vertical movement of objects fell away by itself in the process of evolution. As for how cats see at a distance, it is best to see close, and objects located far away seem slightly blurry to them. This is also due to the ambush principle of hunting small predators. The stereoscopic type of vision, created due to the location of the eyes, helps them more accurately assess the movement of prey and coordinate their own actions. If the eyesight of cats is designed to be captured, then in mice the eyes are exactly the opposite — not in the same plane, but on the sides of the head, which makes it possible to more effectively detect a hunter.
In the dark, the eyes of cats glow. This effect is obtained due to the presence in the structure of the iris of a special layer of cells - a mirror. Cells of this layer are able to reflect even the weakest ray of light. Because of what they work as a good light amplifier. At the same time, the mirror layer causes the same “glow” effect.