What do pigs see?

[Keg]

I have hunted pigs for years and really don't know what they see....Pigs seem quite easy sometimes to sneak up on while they are feeding....If they are not..It can get tough....Definitely keep the wind in your favor....The camo thread got me wondering since pigs are what I hunt most(year round)...
Do they see colors like humans? I know they can catch movement easily..and the older the pig..the tougher to sneak up on....It's a good thing they are constantly occupied with feeding....

[justplainpossum]

I don't think pigs see very well. I had one pass within a few feet of me and just keep going, even though I had just called to him (I thought he was a dog...)

[Keg]

justplainpossum....I have had pigs spot me from a hundred yds and high tail it....I also had a large sow look up at me on a 16 ft tripod stand..while she was running thru the woods....She picked up her pace temporarily....They can get so preoccupied with feeding that they don't pay attention around them....Also I think they rely on their sense of smell a lot....It is hard to when it is to the ground or in the dirt much of the time....

[phil mcwilliam]

Like most animals, pigs are more sensitive to movement rather than actually seeing & determining a human threat. I do however think they have reasonable eye sight.
On my place there's a ridgeline vehicle track where I drive my buggy to access different parts of my farm. If I'm skylighted on the ridgeline track I've had pigs 800 yards away start to run.
I have also sat on a rocky outcrop in cleared paddock with the wind in my face & wearing no cammo & had a mob of 9 mid size pigs feed straight past me, all within 3 to 15 yards.

[Doyle]

Like most animals, pigs are more sensitive to movement rather than actually seeing & determining a human threat.

This.

Like deer and dogs, they are color blind. If you have clothes that blend in reasonably into the background and don't move, hogs won't pick you out until they get very close. HOWEVER, they have noses that are better than a bloodhound so any wift of scent that gets blown their way will bust you. I was watching a big boar from over 200 yds away one day. All of a sudden, there was a slight shift in the wind and within seconds he lifted his head towards us and high-tailed it out of the field.

[Saltydog235]

The last few I've seen saw a piece of copper jacketed lead between 90-165grns for a split second, then they saw nothing...............






















ever again.

[redleg1013]

^^^ best. post. EVER! I'm still giggling like a little kids even as I write this.

[REDBULL600]

Wiki;

Pigs have panoramic vision of approximately 310° and binocular vision of 35° to 50°. It is thought they have no eye accommodation;[36] other animals that have no accommodation, e.g. sheep, lift their heads to see distant objects.[37] The extent to which pigs have colour vision is still a source of some debate, however, the presence of cone cells in the retina with two distinct wavelength sensitivities (blue and green) suggests that at least some colour vision is present.[38] Pigs are inquisitive and this should be remembered when moving them. If they are not hurried and can explore as they go along, they can be driven with much less effort.
Pigs have a well-developed sense of smell and use is made of this in Europe where they are trained to locate underground truffles. Olfactory rather than visual stimuli are used in the identification of conspecifics.[39] Hearing is also well developed and localisation of sounds is made by moving the head. Auditory stimuli are used extensively by pigs as a means of communication in all social activities.[40] Alarm or aversive stimuli are transmitted to conspecifics not only by auditory cues but also by pheromones.[41] Similarly, recognition between the sow and her piglets is by olfactory and vocal cues.[42]

[reynolds357]

I know they see Corn real well.

[1tfl]

I think I've read that hogs see in shades of blue.
They don't see clearly but they pickup movements really well even at long distance. They do have great sense of smell and they have smelled me out at over 200 yards in light breeze while I was sitting 18 feet up in the air. They also have great hearing. I had a sow pick up the sound of my digital camera turning on at about 75 yards and run off immediately.

[Double Naught Spy]

Something to consider is that judging behavior as a means of assessing capabilities is not a valid measure for capabilities. Just because a deer, hog, coyote, bobcat, etc. should be able to see you and does not run off does not mean you are invisible to it or even unrecognized. A simple explanation is that you are simply not perceived as a threat. If you are not perceived as a threat, the animal may not respond to you in a manner that you would think is indicative that it can see you.

I have been through a bunch of animal studies for vision, looking for information on what hogs can see. Results seem varied depending on how the study was conducted (everything from behavior tests to dissections to electrical signals of ocular receptors).

Hogs have about 330 degrees of vision with a narrow region of binocular overlap in front (~50 degrees). Eye structure tests indicate that they see yellow, green blue much more so than seeing the color of red. So they are not color blind as is often claimed, but have a more limited color spectrum of vision than humans. That is NOT to say that they cannot see red. Red is not invisible to hogs, but not visible as red. Hogs can and do often respond to the use of red lights when hunting. My guess is that they see is as a gray light, like you would see a red light illuminated in a B&W movie.

Hogs do not have comparable focal capabilities to humans. They aren't likely to be texting and reading emails, but as noted above, their signals for danger will undoubtedly be inspired by movement. Remember, vision is not solely based in the capabilities of the eyes, but in the brain's ability to interpret the information from the eyes

In various places, I have seen where folks have noted that hogs don't see well at night because of their lack of a tapetum lucidum (the reflective tissue noted for eyeshine in animals such as coyotes and raccoons). Pigs have generally poor eyeshine, but they do have it. Do they see poorly at night? That would depend on what "poorly" means. They probably see worse than deer or coyotes, but they apparently see a helluva lot better than humans. I have watched a sounder of running hogs through night vision that managed to miss numerous obstacles at full run.

So hogs can make good use of their vision when they need to do so, but may not respond to a lot of stimuli simply because they don't have a known need to respond to the stimuli. Some hogs are not fearful of humans. After deer season, the deer on my land let me approach to within 15 yards of them in broad daylight as I carried a bag of corn to refill a feeder by which they were standing. They saw me get out of the truck, LOL.

http://www.artschool.utas.edu.au/PigVision/specvis.html
http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_up...download.pdf33
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...-1EOmj-2_eE96A

Sometimes, despite best efforts, vision, vision interpretation, and decision making fails every species. This little guy didn't quite make the corner.

[hogdogs]

I don't know what their vision is capable of but I hold that sense in the lowest regard of all of them...

One thing about hogs is they get dumb when feeding. They are so preoccupied while their nose (best sense is smell hands down) is buried and busy in the feed source...

I worry about their sense of smell, then hearing and finally sight...

They don't care what color the tripod feeder is that they destroy as well as not caring what color "hog toy" they are rolling for the corn inside...

Brent

[twobit]

About three years ago there was a 300 pounder that briefly saw a blurred image of "P225/75 R 15" as he slammed into the left front tire of our Jeep Cherokee as we were going 60 MPH. $1500 in damage. At least the pig died. I hate pigs! Some briefly see the fireball from the 16" barrel of my 30-06 in the dark of the night when I stay up late and hunt the corn feeder.

[Double Naught Spy]

One thing about hogs is they get dumb when feeding. They are so preoccupied while their nose (best sense is smell hands down) is buried and busy in the feed source...

You mean that they suffer attention anosmia as well?
See this thread for attention blindness... http://thefiringline.com/forums/show...tion+blindness

I would also add that sounders apparently feel much more secure or preoccupied when operating as a larger group. I have come across a couple that did move away from me, but really didn't change their browsing behavior or speed, just direction after individuals stopped, saw me, and then continued in a different direction. One group had an individual challenge me with a faux charge and stayed between the group and me, but the group operated as if oblivious to my presence.

[Sure Shot Mc Gee]

Funny how animals were Blessed. Turkey have the ability to see colors and pick up quickly on the slightest movement while their hearing and smell is considered about as normal as any other wild bird. Pigs on the other hand see little color (which helps to define movement) but have an outstanding sense of smell and hearing. (no matter how bad they smell themselves)
From what I've read. Red & green LED lighting works the best at night. Even normal clear lighting seems to work OK if over time is brought up slowly to its full intensity over them. (pigs under a spin feeder or stand.)

S/S