Hiding In Plain Site Life can be tough for animals in the wild. Every advantage increases an animal's chance of survival. And, survival of each individual animal ultimately means survival of the species. This simple fact has caused animal species to develop special adaptations. Natural camouflage is one of the most widespread of these adaptations. Through camouflage, an animal can hide itself from predators and stay off the local menu.

There are basically two ways that animals camouflage themselves, by using some form of coloration or a full disguise.

Can You See Me Now?
The use of color can be categorized into two methods -- concealing coloration and disruptive coloration. Concealing coloration is just what it sounds like - an animal uses color to conceal its presence by blending into the surroundings. Many animals do this. Deer, squirrels, hedgehogs and lots of other animals are brownish, "earth tone" colors. They match the trees, brush and soil around them. Sharks, dolphins and many other sea creatures have a grayish-blue coloring. This helps them blend in with the soft light underwater.

In most mammals, the camouflage coloration is in the fur, since this is the outermost layer of the body. In reptiles, amphibians and fish, it is in the scales; in birds, it is in the feathers; and in insects, it is part of the exoskeleton. The actual structure of the outer covering may also evolve to create better camouflage. In squirrels, for example, the fur is fairly rough and uneven, so it resembles the texture of tree bark.

You may be wondering, "But what do these animals do when their surroundings change?" One of the biggest shifts in an animal's surroundings happens when the seasons change. In the spring and summer, a mammal's habitat might be full of greens and browns, while in the fall and winter, everything can be covered with snow. While brown coloration is perfect for a summer, wooded environment, it makes an animal an easy target against a white background. Many birds and mammals deal with this by producing different colors of fur or feathers depending on the time of year. In most cases, either changing amounts of daylight or shifts in temperature trigger the change.

Photo courtesy David Parks Paradoxophyla palmata, a narrow-headed frog native to Madagascar. The frog's brown and yellow coloring, as well as its rough texture, allow it to blend in with the mud and tree trunks in its environment.

Besides background-matching coloration, many animals have what is called disruptive coloration. Instead of overall color, distinctive designs do the trick. Spots, stripes or even patches, camouflage the animal. This works in two ways. Let's consider the zebra as an example. The wavy lines of a zebra blend in with the wavy lines of the tall grass around it. In this case, because lions are colorblind, the pattern is more important than the color. If a zebra is standing still in a field of tall grass, a lion may overlook it completely. This is great for a lone zebra, but what about a herd?

Zebras usually travel in large groups and stay very close to one another. In a big group, the pattern of each zebra's stripes blends in with the stripes of the zebras around it. This is confusing to the lion. It sees a large, moving, striped mass instead of many individual zebras. The lion has trouble picking out any one zebra and can't zone in for an attack.

Reproduced with permission of the Minister of Public Works & Government Services Canada, 2001 As the seasons change, the Arctic fox changes the color of its coat. In the spring and summer, it has a dark coat, to match the brown dirt in its environment. In the fall and winter, it turns white, to match the surrounding snow.

Many fish species are similarly camouflaged. Their vertical stripes may be brightly colored, which makes them stand out to predators, but when they swim in large schools, their stripes all meld together. This confusing spectacle gives predators the impression of one big, swimming blob.