Infrared-seeking Dog Noses

Infrared-seeking Dog Noses

Touch your nose and then touch your dog’s nose. Notice any difference? Like most mammals, your nose is at the ambient temperature. Your dog’s nose, however, is cold and wet. We have known for a long time that vampire bats have cool patches in their nasal areas that act as heat detectors to help them find warm-blooded prey. Researchers have now found that dogs have a very similar structure. Perhaps infrared-seeking dog noses have the same purpose.

A dog’s nose is packed with sensitive nerves. Researchers say that dogs can detect a warm surface at a distance of five feet (1.5 m). When a warm object is placed near a dog in a cold, dark room, the dog will respond to the object even though there is no visible light in the room. Brain activity goes wild in the area that is connected to the nose.

A friend of mine had a dog that would dig up moles in his yard. The dog would move around with his nose to the ground. Then he would suddenly stop and begin digging. Every time, he would flip out a mole. I told my friend he could make a fortune if he could train ten dogs to do that. Now, at last, I know how the dog did it.

Want to make a fortune? Invent an infrared detector sensitive enough to detect a mole six inches below the surface of the ground. It would be hard to do, but God designed infrared-seeking dog noses so they could find prey that is not visible to our eyes.

— John N. Clayton © 2020