To Anon:
 
>A few posters have mentioned that ferret eyes should glow GREEN when light is
>flashed on them (as opposed to other animals). Well, my ferret's eyes glow
>RED (as several flash photos can verify)!
 
     The reflection seen in the eye has a lot to do with the amount of
pigment in the retina.  If the retina is highly pigmented, the eyes will
grow green.  If it is not, they glow red.  Human eyes glow red becaue we do
not have tremendous aounts of pigment in the retina.
 
     Remember, dark-eyed whites are very pigment-diluted.  The eyes will
have little pigment in the retina, and a lack of pigment containing cells
also impacts on the ability to hear.  (There are pigment containing cell sin
the inner ear which participate in conduction of sound.  Without these cells
(which don't migrate into proper position in color-diluted varieties),
partial to toal deafness may and often does occur.
 
        These type of problems are just an example of what we get when we
breed for specific color patterns.
 
Bruce Williams, DVM, DACVP
[Posted in FML issue 1291]