Find Out About Animal Camouflage is a lovely book for children, looking at how creatures hide in the desert and snow, or some don’t hide at all. From insects that look like leaves to underwater creatures that blend into their background, readers will learn about:
- Leaf mimic moths (which resemble a dead leaf when still)
- African Gaboon vipers (which look like a heap of dead leaves)
- Peppered moth caterpillars (who adjust their colour to hide)
- The flower mantis (who looks like a pretty pink flower)
- Peacock flounders change colour to match underwater surroundings
- The ghost pipefish (looks like a long thin piece of coral)
- Ptarmigans blend in to hide in the snow
- Arctic hares & foxes (grow white fur in winter to hide)
Fun Facts about Animal Camouflage
Animals hide themselves for a variety of reasons, and in a variety of ways. The main reason is to avoid being eaten, or to hide themselves, when about to eat some unsuspecting other creature. Depending on species, animals may well change colour or shape, or even pretend to be something else entirely:
- Chameleons can change their colour, to blend in with their environment.
- Arctic foxes can hide amid the snow.
- Stoats are brown and black, but turn white in winter.
- Crabs cover their shells with seaweed and natural sponge, to avoid being found by turtles.
- Leopards have spots, to blend in with the surroundings.
- Same with zebras, and their strikes
- Stick insects blend in with foliage, to look like twigs. Some even move in the wind, to pretend they are branches.
- An octopus can not just change colour to match surroundings, but even change the texture of its skin, to match surroundings rocks and corals.
