Outdoor Experience Column Wilderness Education NightWalking Fear of the dark is so deeply rooted in humans, so primal, that it is discovered within us almost from our earliest awareness. Most campers huddle around fires steeling themselves against the strange noises of the night. But there is a whole world of wonder that wakes up after the sun goes down. NightWalking makes you a part of it. In actual fact, we humans do have some of that night vision that lets bobcat and bear roam between dusk and dawn.
Rods are extremely sensitive to light and are used for night vision.
Cones are the color-detecting cells that also allow us to focus sharply. Most mammals are creatures of the night, their eyes filled solely with rods. Daytime-dwelling humans have cones filling our optic center providing sharp, focused vision. The light-sensitive rods are found on the surrounding periphery. It's believed that this is an evolutionary remnant, like our little toes that don't get used much, becoming smaller and smaller over the millennia.