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This means that humans can focus on one object at a time and their peripheral vision is poor. For squirrels, this area is spread over their entire retina. A human retina has a very small area where the vision is the sharpest. That said, squirrels have a better visual focus than humans do. This means that people suffering from color blindness confuse the same color spots as squirrels do. What’s more is that at the micro-level, color-blindness pretty much functions in the same way for humans as it does for squirrels. Humans can also suffer from color-blindness. There are certainly a lot of similarities between the visual perception of squirrels and humans. Squirrels have good vision, but is it better than human vision? Yes and no. However, it was suggested that they may just be responding to the brightness or smell of the biscuits and not the colors. This was completely contrary to the information available about a squirrel’s vision capacity. They also appeared to be capable of discriminating between color intensity. One interesting study, however, showed squirrels being able to distinguish green and red biscuits ( source). Most squirrel species have cone-dominated retinas and have dichromatic color vision that is mediated by green and blue cones. A red object will appear yellow-green to a squirrel. However, they cannot tell apart red and green hues, which means that squirrels are color blind. More recent studies showed squirrels to have a dichromatic vision, which helps them distinguish between yellow and blue color tones. Early studies of a squirrel’s retina suggested that squirrels have the ability to see colors. Are Squirrels Color Blind?Ĭompared to other animals, a squirrel’s vision does include colors. What about colors, though? Let’s find out. To sum it up, squirrels definitely have very sharp eyesight. However, no supporting links or data were provided to support this claim. (One reference suggests that albino grey squirrels maintain good vision. As animals with these traits tend to have poorly developed eyes, albino squirrels have vision problems. Melanin is needed for color development but is also an important component for the proper development of components of the eye including the retina. Albino animals lack the ability to produce a key pigment called melanin ( source). The exception to these comments rests with albino squirrels. Thus the ability for squirrels to see at night varies greatly among the different types of squirrels. The receptors Ground squirrels have a rod density of 10%, while grey squirrels have a rod density of about 40% and the nocturnal flying squirrel having a rod density of nearly 100%. The ability to see in low light conditions is enabled by the presence of rods and the concentration of rods varies between the different types of squirrels. There are two types of photo receptors in a squirrel’s retina, rods and cones. More recent studies have suggested that these pale-yellow lenses may also block UV light and protect a squirrel’s retina from damage. The pigment acts like a pair of natural sunglasses and reduces the glare from the sun. Squirrels enhance and protect their vision with a pale yellow pigment found on their lenses. The physiological differences between the visual abilities of squirrels and rats is seen in the fact that the visual brain areas for squirrels are larger and more well developed than in other rodents ( source). The squirrel, on the other hand, is active and running around in the day and has to rely upon their vision to spot daytime predators.ĭon’t miss this: Are Squirrels Rodents? The Big Differences Between Squirrels and Rats! Since rats spend most of their time running around in the dark they tend to have poor vision and use their whiskers as a navigation tool. Other rodents like mice and rats are nocturnal in nature. Squirrels have a hard time seeing in dark, night time conditions.Ī squirrel’s vision plays an important role in their survival. This helps a squirrel stay alert to changes in its environment, making it easier to detect predators. This means that squirrels can see what is next to them or above them without having to move their heads. Squirrels h ave great focal eyesight and their peripheral vision is equally sharp. In fact, compared to other rodents, they fare extremely well in the vision department. Yes, squirrels have excellent vision in the daylight. So when I was reading about how animals see differently from humans, the first question that popped into my head was whether squirrels have good eyesight? Here’s what I found: My personal fascination with squirrels is old news of course. Whether you think of squirrels as cute fur balls that chase each other across treetops or pests that occasionally invade your attic and chew their way through everything, squirrels are very interesting creatures.