Do Bulls Really See Red?

According to Interesting Facts, no, bills do not see red!

If the very idea of bullfights makes you see red, you’re not alone — even though bulls themselves can’t actually see the color.  As is the case with other cattle and grazing animals such as sheep and horses, bulls’ eyes have two types of color receptor cells (as opposed to the three types that humans have) and are most attuned to yellows, greens, blues, and purples. This condition, a kind of colorblindness known as dichromatism, makes a bullfighter’s muleta (red cape) look yellowish-gray to the animals.

So why are bulls enraged by the sight of matadors waving their muletas? The answer is simple: motion.

The muleta isn’t even brought out until the third and final stage of a bullfight.

The reason it’s red is a little unsavory — it’s actually because the color masks bloodstains.

In 2007, the TV show MythBusters even devoted a segment to the idea that bulls are angered by the color red, finding zero evidence that the charging animals care what color is being waved at them and ample evidence that sudden movements are what really aggravate the poor creatures.  

Not that your Two Chums love bull fights, nor, for that matter, have they ever been to one. But we did find this very interesting! It is always enlightening to defy general belief!