Depth Perception in Sheep: Effects of Interrupting the Mother-Neonate Bond

Lemmon, W. B.; Patterson, George H.

doi:10.1126/science.145.3634.835

Cited by 28 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…To facilitate cattle movement, illumination should be even, and there should be no sudden changes in floor level or texture. Even though ruminant animals have depth perception (Lemmon and Patterson, 1964), their ability to perceive depth at ground level while moving with their heads up is probably poor. Hutson 0985b) suggests that there may be an extensive blind area at ground level and moving livestock may not be able to use motion parallax or retinal disparity cues to perceive depth.…”

Section: Cattle Perceptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The design and construction of facilities for handling cattle

Grandin

1997

Livestock Production Science

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The cattle handling facilities described in this paper are recommended for use with extensively raised cattle which have a large flight zone and are not completely tame. This paper contains diagrams and designs for corrals, yards, sorting (drafting), handling and loading trucks. Single-file races, crowd pens, restraint devices and truck loading ramps should have high solid sides to help keep the cattle calm. Solid fences prevent the cattle from seeing moving people and other distractions outside the fence. Cattle will move more easily through curved races because a curved race prevents the animals from seeing people up ahead. Curved races must be laid out correctly to make them work efficiently. A curved single-file race must not be bent too sharply where it joins the crowd pen. An animal standing in the crowd pen must be able to see two or three body lengths up the singlefile race. Equipment for restraining (fixation) of cattle for veterinary procedures should utilize three behavioral principles: 6) blocking the animal's vision; 60 slow steady motion of parts of the apparatus which are pressed against the animal; and (iii) optimal pressure. A restraint device must apply sufficient pressure to provide the feeling of being held, but excessive pressure that causes pain or struggling must be avoided. Shadows, sparkling reflections, high-pitch noise and objects which jiggle or move will cause cattle to balk and impede movement through the race. C 1997 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.

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Section: Cattle Perceptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The design and construction of facilities for handling cattle

Grandin

1997

Livestock Production Science

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“…The visual cliff consisted of a raised surface, half covered by Plexiglas and half covered by solid materials, with a board in the middle, which gave the impression of a large drop in height on the glassed (deep) side and of a short drop in height on the solid (shallow) side. All land-dwelling species (including human infants, rats, cats, goats, pigs, dogs, monkeys, lambs, and chickens) tested on the apparatus showed an overall avoidance of depth, which provided evidence both of capacity for depth discrimination and of the existence of an apparent universal fear response when individuals are faced with a vertical drop (Lemmon & Patterson, 1964;Walk & Gibson, 1961). Because the individuals tested were juveniles, results can be interpreted as evidence of an innate rather than of a learned fear of heights.…”

mentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Because the individuals tested were juveniles, results can be interpreted as evidence of an innate rather than of a learned fear of heights. However, Lemmon and Patterson (1964) have suggested that the development of depth perception in juvenile animals may be affected by the mother–neonate bond.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Responses of dairy heifers to the visual cliff formed by a herringbone milking pit: Evidence of fear of heights in cows (Bos taurus).

Arnold¹,

Ng²,

Hemsworth³

2007

Journal of Comparative Psychology

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The ability of cows (Bos taurus) to perceive depth has never been experimentally investigated. If cows can perceive depth, the milking pit in commercial milking facilities may be fear provoking for dairy cows, as past research has shown that most land-dwelling species possess an instinctive fear of heights. In the current study, 12 dairy heifers (1-year-old cows) were exposed to a milking pit (depth-exposed group) and 13 heifers (control group) were exposed to a standard change in the environment while they moved through a milking facility over a 5-day treatment period. Heifers in the depth-exposed group showed a higher heart rate (p < .05) and stopped more often (p < .05) than did those in the control group; persistence of heart rate but not of behavioral responses on repeated exposures indicated that some habituation to the depth stimulus had occurred. Depth exposure had no effect on cortisol concentrations or on ease of handling. These results indicate that heifers responded differently to a change in depth than they did to a standard change in the environment and provide evidence of both depth perception and acute fear of heights in cows.

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“…If cattle look down and see a steep drop-off, they often refuse to enter 10 . Ruminants have depth perception 11 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%