Enchanting Cats

your eyes can see 200 degrees

a wider view than offered me

and in the night you might notice

all kinds of things I’m sure to miss

but my eyes show me colors true

vibrant orange and golden hues

and truly you will never see

how beautiful you are to me

 

A little poem about how cats see differently than we do (and indeed beauty is in the eye of the beholder!) Their eyes are more sensitive to light and can see much better in the dark than humans can, but their color perception is very poor. In fact, most mammals aside from primates have little or no color vision. A calico or tortoiseshell cat with bold orange markings has absolutely no idea how striking these patterns are to our eyes. Likewise a tiger that cannot distinguish between orange and green thinks he is quite the master of camouflage- and he definitely is for mammalian prey that likewise cannot make these color distinctions. The birds and reptiles he passes by will likely not be fooled, however, and probably think that a boar is quite stupid for not noticing a predator decked out in safety orange.

I know you all are getting out your holiday decorations already, but it’s still Autumn for a few more weeks! Autumn is such a beautiful time of year, though I don’t get to experience it properly in my warm corner of the world. Those of you who actually get to see the colors turn warm as the weather gets cold – please appreciate it for me!