Bulls get angry at the color red
| Bulls get angry at the color red | |
|---|---|
| FALSE | |
| "The color red makes bulls angry, which is why matadors wave red capes." | |
| Domain | Science & Space |
| Tactic | False Context |
| Era | Historical |
| First seen | 19th century |
| Origin | Bullfighting tradition and cartoons |
| Last reviewed | 2026-10-30 |
| Further reading: books on Science & Space | |
Cartoons and sayings like "a red rag to a bull" taught many children that red enrages bulls.
Bulls cannot distinguish red the way people can. They react to the movement of the cape.
What the evidence shows
- Color vision. Cattle are dichromats, with two types of color receptors, and cannot see red as a distinct color.
- Movement. In a 2007 MythBusters test, a bull charged moving capes of any color and ignored a still red one.
- Why red. The muleta used in the final stage of a bullfight is red, partly by tradition and partly because it hides blood.
Why it matters
The myth is a simple example of a cause that seems obvious but turns out to be something else when tested.
Sources
- Discovery Channel, MythBusters, "Red Rag to a Bull," 2007.
- Scientific American, "Fact or Fiction: Bulls Hate the Color Red."
- Temple Grandin, Humane Livestock Handling, Storey Publishing, 2008.