Outdoor Professsor's Tips

Glowing Animal Eyes   Hello, I'm the OUTDOOR PROFESSOR from DiscoveringTheOutdoors.com/ Here's your outdoor tip on why animal eyes glow in the dark. Have you ever caught a deer in the headlights of your car at night and seen a luminescent glow in its eyes? Have you gone along a river or lake at night shining the shoreline with a spotlight and seen a spooky glow of eyes seeming to stare at you through the dense darkness? This phenomenon is caused by a series of special adaptions designed to help animals see in low light. The shine from the eyes is caused by a layer of tissue, Tapetum Lucidum, located behind the retina that reflects light back through the retina giving the receptors a second chance at the rays of light.  This increases the available light providing a kind of night vision for the animal. Also, when a light shines, it reflects a bright glow that can be seen from a distance. When light enters the human eye, it passes through the pupil that regulates how much light strikes the retina at t