Friday, February 1, 2013

Hard Animals to Find

Find the Peeper- Click to enlarge
Looking long and hard for something different?  If so, Master Naturalist Dan Crane has just the thing for you, and it is free.

Dan sent me a link to the Daily Mail, not exactly my usual source for nature news.  It features a number of pictures demonstrating the art of crypsis at its finest.  The skills of of blending into your surroundings can be a benefit for a turkey hunter.  For an animal it can be a life saver, whether it is a potential prey avoiding a predator or being a predator waiting for a meal to come along.  More on crypsis from Wikipedia:.
"In ecology, crypsis is the ability of an organism to avoid observation or detection by other organisms. It may be either a predation strategy or an antipredator adaptation, and methods include camouflage, nocturnality, subterranean lifestyle, transparency, and mimicry.  Crypsis can in principle involve visual, olfactory or auditory camouflage."
When looking at these Dailymail.co.uk link pictures, try to find the animal before looking at the caption.  It is much easier to find them when you know what you are looking for, unlike a predator in the wild which is just looking for anything for lunch.