In nature’s world of hide or be eaten, wild things across the globe that don’t rely on flight or speed to elude capture need to employ other methods.

A ladybird beetle exudes a bad taste and its bright colors serve to warn others to let it alone. A striped skunk effectively avoids capture by advertising with its black and white pattern: “I’m armed.” Great horned owls, with a terrible sense of smell and being nocturnal are the exception. Even a monarch butterfly is boldly colored because, like its larval form, is noxious from eating the milkweed plant.

But animals such as meadow voles, cottontail rabbits, katydids, grasshoppers, white-tailed deer, or red and gray squirrels have adapted their coloration to basically match their surroundings. “Good tasting” caterpillars, like the inch-long oak leaf caterpillars or oak leaf roller caterpillars generally are green or brown to match foliage. This adaptation of blending into the surroundings is called protective coloration.

I discussed recently the importance of a fawn’s spotted coat which is so essential for its first few days of its life. Occasionally an albino or piebald deer is born, and you can imagine how lucky they must be to avoid being discovered. I would bet that we would see more adult albino animals of many other species, but many, I’m sure, don’t “make it.”

Protective coloration is used by predators, too. Locally, a praying mantis, copperhead, timber rattlesnake, or black racer use color patterns to help them hide from prey, and also, to avoid capture themselves by higher order predators. A tiger’s stripes were not an accident. Those born with that pattern survived best and then after breeding, passed on these traits to future generations. For the future success of wild creatures most rely on “hiding” effectively.

Get out there to find all those “critters” hiding near you.

Test Your Outdoor Knowledge: Chimney swifts, fast-flying, insect-eating birds looking like “flying cigars” have arrived back in our region. Why are they very common over the roof tops of Palmerton or Slatington but not over the skies of Franklin Township housing developments?

Last Week’s Trivia Answer: Frogs’ and toads’ tongues are attached to the front of their mouths and they flick outward to snag insects.

Contact Barry Reed at breed71@gmail.com.