Words with Webster, Plus Friendly Fill-Ins

We have two fun features for you this Friday. First up is Words with Webster, in which Webs shares some information about eyes. This is followed by Friendly Fill-Ins.

Words with Webster

Hi, all! Real Cat Webster here. Today in Words with Me, I’ve picked a really interesting word. It’s tapetum (plural tapeta), and it means the reflective layer behind the retina in the eye. My cousin Merriam-Webster says that tapetum is

any of various membranous layers or areas especially of the choroid and retina of the eye; specifically :  a layer in the choroid chiefly of nocturnal mammals that reflects light and is made up of several layers of flattened cells covered by a zone of double refracting crystals.

 Whatever. Basically, it’s what helps us cats see so well at night. Some light that comes into the eye misses the retina’s receptor cells, and the tapetum reflects that light back toward the retina so it has another chance to hit a receptor cell and get “seen.” The tapetum is also what makes our eyes shine in the dark when you point a flashlight or something at us.

Pretty cool, huh? I mean, I’m twelve years old, and all this time I never even knew I had a tapetum!

Friendly Fill-Ins

And now it’s time for Friendly Fill-Ins, from 15andmeowing and McGuffy’s Reader. They are a fun way to learn a little bit about the authors of the blogs you read. The first two questions, answered by Real Cat Paisley this week,  are from Ellen of 15andmeowing, and the next two, answered by Real Cat Webster,  are from Annie of McGuffy’s Reader.

Real Cat Paisley’s answers

1. I don't understand why sleeping late on weekends is so popular. C’mon, human. Five a.m., time to feed the kitty, even on Sundays!

2. My in-case-of-emergency person is Mommy.

Real Cat Webster’s answers

3. There is so much napping to be done! It’s hard to keep up, actually.

4. I would be lost without my family. And my tapeta.