Animal Myths...

Here's a couple of interesting animal myths that I see have been debunked...

First up is the myth that the komodo dragon bite while not containing venom, is deadly due to all kinds of nasty bacteria that live in its mouth. Now I have seen these guys on numerous trips to the national zoo in DC. They are truly scary creatures. To be pursued and bitten by one or more of them would keep me up at night if I lived in an area where they roamed free. I, like most people that read the description of them on the placard by the their cage noting this 'fact', took it at face value that it was true. Well, it turns out that some scientist did some deeper thinking about it and studied it a bit more and concluded that it was all bunk. Turns out that water buffalo that they killed by biting went and wallowed in nasty feces filled mud, then died from infection. Yea Science!

Next up is the color blindness of dogs. This is one that I have heard all my life and again took at face value - dogs can't see color. Well it turns out that isn't quite true. They just can't see all the colors. They actually do have receptors for blue and yellow, but not red and green. Scientist constructed some test to verify that was true, and Science! proved it was. Now it turns out they are just like humans who have trouble seeing red / green. Is that you? Check it out: