Dog noses beat human eyes

In spite of the distraction posed by a ground squirrel, sniffer dogs’ noses proved better than human eyes when it comes to identifying spotted knapweed, says a scientific journal devoted to invasive plant species.

Invasive Plant Species and Management, published by the Weed Science Society of America, cites a study conducted in Montana that pitted trained detection dogs against human eyes. Dogs and humans were equally good at spotting medium and large sized plants. Dogs were better at finding the small ones. Humans found plants 59 per cent of the time, while the dogs’ success rate was 81 per cent. “Visual surveys for these plants often reflect only adult life stages, whereas non-flowering plants and inconspicuous life stages can often be overlooked under intense searches.”

Better Farming - August/September 2010