The podcast episode is a rerun from many years ago.

' What Animals Have A Tapetum Lucidum?' Sciencing. ' Why Do Animals' Eyes Glow In The Dark?' NPR: Science Out Of The Box. ' The Science Of How Eyes Glow In The Dark.' io9.com.

' Feline Vision Problems: A Host of Possible Causes.' Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine.

(And if you're interested in learning more about parts of the human eye, you can click here to read about the fovea, the part of the eye that lets you read and see other fine details) Sources And Further Reading: The red eye glow you sometimes see in photographs is light being reflected from a person's retinas which are red from all the blood vessels back there. For cats, it's an opportunity for them to see the light again and let their brains process it. We see it as an eerie green in most breeds of cats. When a cat sees light like demonstrated above, the tapetum lucidum allows any light not absorbed by the retina to be reflected back. In cats, the tapetum lucidum increases their sensitivity to light. It's a reflective surface that is behind the cat's retinas. That green glow (although some breeds do have different coloring) you see is because the light is reflecting off a part of their eyes called the tapetum lucidum. Its eyes focused on your headlights.Ĭats' eyes are different than our own. The light from your headlights, or the sound from your engine, attracted the cat's attention. The cat's eyes shone because your eyes, your car's headlights, and the cat's eyes were nearly in a straight line. They were just the eyes of a prowling cat. You get closer and the eyes slip away into the grass. Ahead, in the dark, you see a pair of bright, disembodied eyes.

You're driving along a lonely road at night.

Real cat eye pupil