What Color is Camouflage

What Color is Camouflage

In the foothills near my house, a mountain lion might be hunting. He stalks across a dry hillside. His golden fur matches the grass. A doe raises her head to sniff the air. Her fawn is quiet, and the lion passes by.

In my backyard, a robin could catch an insect that looks like a leaf. After dark, a skunk and her babies might walk right down my street. My dog can see their bold white stripes, but he's learned to leave skunks alone.

Near my house, and all over the world, at every time of day or night, animals are hunting for food . . . or they are being hunted. Animals must eat in order to live, and to live they sometimes have to hide. Animals hide in holes, burrows, and dens, in plants, underwater, and beneath rocks.

Some animals hide out in plain sight, but they are still very hard to see. The doe's coat and the mountain lion's fur blend into the colors surrounding them. The fawn's spots match the sun and shade that dapple the thicket where she hides. When in danger, the fawn must stay very still. Any movement might draw the eye of a hunter. The fawn and the doe, and the prowling lion-each one of these animals is camouflaged.

What color is camouflage? Camouflage can be a certain color, or pattern of colors, or a special shape that fools the eye. Animal camouflage is a kind of disguise. It makes an animal hard to see. Camouflage helps an animal hide from enemies, and it can help a hunter sneak up on its prey. Hiding and hunting are both made easier when an animal matches its surroundings. A green insect clinging to a green leaf is much harder to see than a red insect. If a green insect is shaped like a leaf, even the hungriest bird could miss it.