finland’s lapland is home to over twenty thousand reindeer, but with thousands killed every year due to vehicle collisions in the dark, herders now cover the animals’ antlers with a harmless fluorescent paint that glows in the light of oncoming cars, but is otherwise invisible. both female and male reindeer in lapland grow antlers, which they shed in the spring, so a new coating is reapplied in the fall.
and as mentioned in this post, reindeer eyes have a mirrored surface behind the retina – the tapetum lucidum – which allows the animal to take in more light in the near perpetual darkness of a lapland winter, and which reflects back a light that makes the eyes already appear to shine.
“Excavation of Persepolis (Iran): Tripylon (Council Hall), Main Hall, South Jamb of Eastern Doorway: View of Relief Picturing King (Darius I), Crown Prince (Xerxes), and Representatives of the Nations of the Empire”
1923-1928
glass negative from the Ernst Herzfeld Papers
Freer and Sackler Archives
I’m overwhelmed by the smallest stuff at the moment, in bed watching movies tonight feeling my stomach knot up. Zach is looking after me