Bobcat Kitten vs. Pocket Gopher

This young wild female bobcat kitten has found a meal, but the meal isn't quite ready to throw in the towel. Vicious fangs hold back the cat for a while.

The glow in the eyes of the bobcat is called "Eyeshine" and occurred due to natural sunlight. Eyeshine occurs when light enters the eye, passes through the rods (light receptors) and cones (color receptors) of the retina (image surface), strikes a special membrane behind the retina, and is reflected back through the eye to the light source. This special mirrorlike membrane, called the tapetum (ta-PEA-tum) lucidum (Latin: "bright tapestry"), is not present in the human eye. We have dark-colored cells behind our retinas, which absorb light rather than reflect it.

Animals that display the brightest eyeshine, such as the bobcat, have more rods (light receptors) and fewer cones (color receptors) in their retinas than animals with no eyeshine. As a result, they have excellent night vision, but most are color-blind.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• Bobcat
• Kitten
• Santa
• Barbara
• California
• Pocket
• Gopher
• Hunting
• Eyeshine
• Tapetum
• Lucidum
• Glowing
• Eyes

[sharan60dream]

Its always amazing to see those behaviors in wild animals.

[mapscannotcontainme]

This footage is amazing. What sort of camera you use?