this post was submitted on 07 Oct 2024
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the flies (mander.xyz)
submitted 1 week ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] over_clox 132 points 1 week ago (6 children)

Did they study the paint chemicals themselves to see if that by itself was a natural bug repellant?

Did they check if the paint chemicals are even safe for cows?

πŸ€”

[–] essteeyou 61 points 1 week ago (1 children)

What if it's just the white stripes (not the band)? Do white cows have the same number of flies? What if you paint them with black stripes?

Maybe those are answered in the article, but I'll never read it.

[–] [email protected] 52 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Yes. They had a control group with only black stripes along with an unpainted group. I would have to assume they also checked the paints for potential repellents, but I only skimmed the article.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6776349/

[–] Clinicallydepressedpoochie -3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

There is also the paint creating a barrier.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

OK, but they didn't count bites. They counted how many flies landed on the cow. So it being a barrier is irrelevant

[–] [email protected] -3 points 1 week ago

Instead of unpainted black they should have done painted black, or done both.

[–] SmoothLiquidation 39 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I haven’t read the study, but most of these would need a placebo group, so divide the herd into thirds, one with no paint, one with stripes, and one fully painted white to get a baseline for each group. Also would be good to randomize which group each cow goes in each day so to rule out one cow who is especially tasty to flies.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 week ago

Also blindfold the scientists and the cows so it's double blind. We don't want the cows acting in a fly-attracting way because of placebo.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Those groups also have another characteristic that changes: the amount of the cow covered in paint.

How do you determine if its that vs the stripes or colors?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

You paint a second control group the colors and patterns they already are

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Did this study do that? The abstract didnt mention it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Probably not. I was just answering your question - that's how you'd eliminate that variable from the experiment

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 days ago

Right thank you for the clarification.

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod 9 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I've not seen the study referenced, but if I were doing it I'd have cows I painted with white paint, white stripes, black paint, and a control I left unpainted.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

This study is posted in another comment here, but they left out the black paint group.

[–] over_clox 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Yes, obviously. But are the flies possibly repelled by the paint? Are the flies even able to bite through the paint?

Edit: 50% stripes, 50% reduction in bug bites.

Coincidence? I think not.

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod 11 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Somebody posted the study in this thread if you're curious

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

A control group where they mix the colors together and paint them grey would answer that

[–] over_clox -1 points 1 week ago

Can a biting fly even penetrate paint, to consume that precious bovine blood?

[–] StaticFalconar 6 points 1 week ago

What if you actually read the study before asking questions πŸ˜…πŸ˜œπŸ€”