From: Natasha Vita-More <natasha@natasha.cc>
>"'flagged' in front of him" (-:)
>The bull instinctively goes for the cloth because it is a large,
>moving target, not because of its color (yes, bulls are color
>blind.) Good call. They charge at moving objects because of
>instinct and centuries of special breeding. Their perceptions and
>reactions -- sense stimuli based on memory -- have nothing to do
>with color or myths but have a lot to do with a guy dressed in
>gold is taunting them.
Yes it is movement not color (since bulls are colorblind) that has
the effect.
By papal edict the bulls are only to be used once, this is because
the bulls quickly learn what is going on and will go automatically
after the Matador. I've seen tourists cheer the fact that a Matador
was unable to defeat a bull within the time alloted and the bull
left the ring for the corral, completely unaware that the bull
would be killed upon returning to the pen.
In Mexico where they often overlook the papal edict because of the
cost, Matadors pay the price.
The best book on the subject is Ernest Hemingway's "Death in the
Afternoon" (it has a 75+ page glossary).
Also see Hemingways "The Sun Also Rises" and "The Dangerous
Summer".
Brian
Member:
Extropy Institute, www.extropy.org
Adler Planetarium www.adlerplanetarium.org
Life Extension Foundation, www.lef.org
National Rifle Association, www.nra.org, 1.800.672.3888
Mars Society, www.marssociety.org
Ameritech Data Center Chicago, IL, Local 134 I.B.E.W
Current reading: "Reading People" Jo-Ellan Dimitrius and Mark
Mazzarella
"The Complete Walker III by Colin Fletcher
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