Monday, June 13, 2011

Those Eyes

We've all had the experience of snapping a photo of our dogs which should have been a great shot, except that the eyes glowed yellow in the flash.

Or at night, you shine a flashlight into the dark to locate your dog and you see those yellow eyes looking back at you.


Well, we have an exception. See these beautiful soft brown eyes? They belong to Tsar. But Tsar's eyes don't glow yellow in the light. Tsar's eyes glow red.

Tsar is all black and disappears in the dark, so at our last call, I take a flashlight to  help locate him. What I see are two bright red orbs looking back at me. That's all that shows up. Even after all these years, it's startling to see two bright red eyes coming toward me in the dark.

Dr B says the rods and cones in Tsar's eyes are different than most dogs and cast the red glow instead of the usual yellow. Just another example of Tsar being a strange cat/dog creature.

20 comments:

Jan said...

They're still a little scary even if there is a physical reason.

SissySees said...

Interesting. I have an email I'll forward you... I don't think it's related, but I can't find enough information to know.

Zona said...

That's so interesting! Phoenix's eyes look BLUE when they reflect. I wonder what that means....

Wags,
Zona

rottrover said...

His brown eyes ARE beautiful!!

♥I am Holly♥ said...

That is interesting! I get a lot of glowing eyes and laser eye pictures but one cat almost always has red eyes!! Lots of love, Debbie & Holly

Bella Roxy & Macdui said...

We know Tsar is unique. What's his story? How did he come to live with you?

XXXOOO Daisy, Kendra & Bella

Two French Bulldogs said...

scarrrrrry
Benny & Lily

Molly the Airedale said...

Hey, that's pretty cool, Tsar!

Love ya lots
Maggie and Mitch

Tracy said...

well, isn't that interesting. I don't think I'd want to encounter those eyes in the dark!

♥♥ The OP Pack ♥♥ said...

Hmmm,maybe Mom needs to see if Phantom has that same trait:) Very interesting.

Woos ~ Phantom, Thunder, and Ciara

~Kim at Golden Pines~ said...

I thought that was really interesting!! Charlie (Wheaten's)blue eye photographs red in a flash, but that eye has always been a little spooky anyway!! :-)

jen said...

Wow! That certainly would take me a bit to get use to if I saw those eyes coming towards me in the dark!
Interesting to know it is caused by the rods in the eyes!

Chewy said...

That is interesting indeed!

Chewy

Jed and Abby in MerryLand said...

That is interesting, not least because human eyes also turn red, not yellow, under the flashy beast. Although our eyes seem more like opaque mirrors with the flash, not really yellow.

What a nice turn out you had for the bandana day. And a lot of doggies we don't know yet :)

How many watermelons does it take to fill the tub? Twice?

Jed & Abby

Adien Crafts said...

Spooky Tsar, a very mysterious look - but goes well with your lovely black coat:-) Ours flash blue - the human said it was to do with us being short sighted or something, I keep saying Louis needs glasses but he's so vain ;-) Have a good week guys, Dex & Lou x

Anonymous said...

Wild! Yeah Tsar would scare the bones off of me if I saw his red eyes staring at me in the dark! Yikes! :O
Very cool Tsar :)

Waggin at ya,
Roo

charlie girl said...

My Dog Max, he's the brown version almost, looks-wise of your Tsar, also are red in the dark. Kinda spooky, but it's just big gentle Maxi Paws.

Marjie said...

I do love Tsar. He's so pretty. The rest of your pack is a party in the house, but Tsar is much more like me and Thor.

Unknown said...

Tsar is a stud. :)
I heard in biology class a LONG time ago... that if the flash on your eyes (human) come back as white instead of red ... then it's a sign of cataracts.

Nicki said...

Legend and Lyric have red eye. Zodiac has green eye.