Things that make you go, Hmm......

[TrampNPigeon]

So... I bought two different water bottles for mybunnies when they have to be in separate cages (going to separate themsoon until I know one way or the other whether Pigeon got pregnantbefore Tramp got the snip) and for now I am using both water bottles onthe same cage to make sure they have plenty. One bottle is a see-thrured color the other a see-thru green. Now.. I really didn't think muchof this at the time when I bought them, just thought the colors werekinda neat. Well...before I put them both up I noticed that when thebunnies were turned loose Pigeon especially would make a point ofjumping out of her cage over to the other cage (with the red bottle)and drink, then go back! This got me to thinking that maybe sheactually liked something more about the red bottle... since they areexactly the same other than color...? So, now just to make sure it wasthe color and not something else I put both bottles on the same cage(side by side) and have been watching which one they drink from themost. Sure enough, they seem to drink primarily from the red one untilit is gone, then they will drink from the green one. To make sure itwasn't just something to do with location I switched where the bottleswere last night and when I came down this morning the red one wasalready about half empty and the green one wasn't touched even thoughit was in the exact same place the red one had been in before! Justthought it was kinda neat that they seem to have a color preference fortheir water! I just had to share the results of this little experiment.Maybe if you have a bun that doesn't like to drink enough water theyjust want a red bottle LOL. (By the way... both my buns seem to preferthe red bottle to the green but Tramp is not quite as picky about it asPigeon is.... she'll go to effort to reach the red one if she has achoice at all.) Okay.. enough storytime... off to work I go (draggingmy feet, you can be sure!)

Cheryl

 

[Carolyn]

Hi TrampNPigeon,

The red might stand out better to them than the green one.

It was once explained to me that "Studies published in the 1970sindicate rabbits can distinguish colors in a limited ability. Althoughthey may not perceive green or blue as we see them, they can tell themapart." I don't know from where that information was referenced.

As described in the book, The Private Life of a Rabbit by R.M.Lockley who had studied rabbits in the wild from 1954-1959, "It isdiscovered that most mammals are color blind, especially thecrespuscular and nocturnal species."

-Carolyn

 

[Flopsy]

Thats funny. Now I have to put "Look For A RedWater Bottle" on my to do list, since I have to by FLopsy a new waterbottle anyway.

 

[batbunny]

*rubs chin...* verrryinteresting...ive been wondering about buns abilities forseeing color.

 

[MyBunnyLovesMe]

Megan's bottle is clear with red design thingerson it... to me, it doesn't matter what kind of bottle it is, she stillthinks she's too good to put her mouth on that icky cold metal lol, no,she's spoiled and has to have someone squeeze the water out so she cansit pretty and not have to work for it.... lol oh well.

 

[Sarah]

This is a little off topic, but it is about redand green. Red and green are the same value. Meaning in nature, and inthe color wheel, they are the same level of light and dark. Many peoplewho are color-blind can't tell the difference between the two colors,because if the colors were changed to shades of gray red and greenwould be the same shade of gray. At least that's what I learned incolor class inschool (one of the only things i remember) Ialways wondered why traffic lights are green and red, seeing that thetwo could be confused by some people.

Of course, rabbits aren't people--well they are kind of--but maybe toTramp the two colors seem pretty much the same, but Pigeon sees thedifference between red and green and finds red moreattractive.Or maybe you just found out that Pigeon has afavorite color

 

[Carolyn]

More information on colors in rabbit'seyesight. (It was interesting what you added Sarah about thecolor wheel.)

[font="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"]What aboutcolor vision? In general, vertebrates have two different types ofphotoreceptor cells in their retinas: rods and cones. Cones confer highresolution, and, if more than one cone type is present, they alsoconfer the ability to perceive various wavelengths of light as distinctcolors. For example, we humans have three different categories ofcone--their maximum sensitivities in the red, blue and green regions ofthe spectrum. The differing sensitivities of each cone type enable usto perceive different (visible) wavelengths of light as the colors ofthe rainbow. [/font]

http://www.atrsc.net/articles/Sight.htmwasthe reference.

-Carolyn

 

[batbunny]

cool! thanks sarah & carolyn!

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

Well I knew that bunnies could tell the differencebetween colors! Only when I wear green pants do they ever bite mypants. Maybe they think there grass or something, who knows, but that'sthe only time they have ever chewed on my pants, is when I wear green.