The eyes have it in this show. Whether it's the Flattened Musk Turtle, the Florida Key Deer or the Northeastern Beach Tiger Beetle, they are all looking into a camera with an unwavering, penetrating gaze that seems -- at least to this writer -- to be asking, "What are you doing?"

And the animals are only one part of this extraordinary show now at the Napa Valley Museum. "Witness: Endangered Species of North American" comprises 100 photographs of flora and fauna, from a grizzly bear to the eastern prairie fringed orchid, from a Hawaiian hoary bat to a Stock Island snail.

The show is the work of two photographers, Susan Middleton and David Liittschwager, who criss-crossed the continent, seeking out these species. "These 100 images stand for the more than 800 North American plants and animals officially classified as endangered, which in turn point to the countless threatened species that have not made it through the federal bureaucracy," Middleton wrote in the forward to the equally stunning book, by the same name, that is the companion to the show.

The photographers took the unusual tack of not photographing the species in their habitats, but against a stark black or white background to drive home their message that the rate at which the brilliant diversity of life is vanishing as the human species destroys their living places.

"We turned our eyes toward animals and plants, members of species with million-year histories, which may be the last of their kind," Middleton writes. "For us it was a passport into the lives of 100 endangered species."

In an introduction sociobiologist Edward O. Wilson notes that previously to the ascendancy of homo sapiens "the overall rate of extinction S has averaged from one species per million to one species per 10 million each year. In the present century human activity has multiplied this rate between 1,000 and 10,000 times."

To create their photographs the pair "zigzagged across the country chasing down plants whose bloom times defied botanists' best predictions and traveled to great distances to arrive at opportune times in animals' life cycles," Liittschwager writes. "We outfitted a 20-foot long stepvan, the kind used for bread deliveries, with the equipment needed to photograph everything from a tiny Tooth Cave spider to a 2,000 pound wood bison."

Each photograph reflects the diligent care they took, whether it's Stephen's kangaroo rat or a Northern Aplomado falcon; as much care is lavished on a single leaf from a presidio manzanita as on a magnificent Florida panther.

"Most often we did not know what the species looked like before we arrived to make the photograph," Middleton writes. "We wanted to include less celebrated species, which are as important to the functioning of the natural worlds as the more charismatic ones. The Madison Cave isopod, for example, does not have the allure of the bald eagle, but nevertheless is a miracle of construction and adaptation. It is the product of millions of years of evolution in the dark lakes deep underground inside Madison Saltpetre Cave, in West Virginia.

"Gradual adaptation of the species led to the loss of both its eyes and its body pigment, neither being of any use in an eternally nocturnal habitat. We learned we might do well to be aware of this little creature, for its health is a measure of the quality of groundwater on which people depend."

Their work results in a simply magnificent show, one not to miss while it's at the Napa Valley Museum and a perfect post-Thanksgiving show. You can visit it for its deeper message or for the sheer beauty of the work, but either way it is a show that goes straight to heart. Which was their intent.

"We felt that an emotional connection to these animals and plants, most of which people will never see, will increase the capacity for a wider perception of the diversity of life," Middleton writes.

"Each species, to put the matter succinctly, is a masterpiece," Wilson notes. "It deserves that rank in the fullest sense, a creation assembled with extreme care by genius."

"Witness: Endangered Species of North America" will be at the Napa Valley Museum through Jan. 8. The museum is located at 55 Presidents Circle on the grounds of the Veterans Home of California in Yountville. It's open daily, except Tuesday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It will be closed on Thanksgiving Day but will be open the day after, Friday, Nov. 25. Admission is $4.50 for adults; $3.50 for students/seniors; $2.50 for youth 7-17; and children under seven are admitted free. For additional information, visit www.napavalleymuseum.org or call 944-0500.

Upcoming at the Museum

The Napa Valley Museum will host a fundraising Martini Party, sponsored by Leslie Rudd's Distillery No. 209, on Dec. 2, from 6 to 8 p.m. Get into the holiday spirit at our Friday evening cocktail party featuring martinis, mojitos and bramble cocktails from Distillery No. 209. Enjoy tasty cocktail nibbles, live jazz from Eddie Duran and Joe Holiday and the opportunity to meet new friends while catching a rare glimpse of the endangered species featured in "Witness: Endangered Species of North America."

On Jan. 4 the museum will host a wildlife illustration workshop for teenagers from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. with local artist Wagner a master of illustration, who will use "Witness," to teach advanced perspective drawing techniques and how to create proper proportions for animals, plants and insects. This four-hour workshop will focus on tips and skills to render subjects with accuracy and finesse. The cost is $35 ($25 for members), which includes lunch and materials.

Please call 944-0500 for reservations by Jan. 2.