DID YOU KNOW...
Why cat’s eyes glow in the dark

IF you’ve ever taken a flashlight and gone outside at night to look for your cat, you might have been greeted with the eerie glow of two eyes that appear to be floating free of the cat. What makes cat’s eyes, and those of certain other animals, glow in the dark? Many nocturnal animals (those that hunt at night) have a mirror-like layer called the tapetum behind the cells of the retina. This reflective surface helps the animal to gather more light so that it can see clearly even in very low levels of illumination. Among animals that have this ability are rabbits, deer, cats, racoons, wolves, and even bullfrogs. Animals’ eyes glow in different colours, too, depending on the type of animal and the pigment in the animal’s photoreceptors. The colours could be red, green, yellow, golden, or white.

— Compiled by Gaurav Sood