Survival of the fittest doesn’t always apply to which animal is the strongest or has the most stamina. It could actually apply to the plant kingdom too, where one tree may be able to grow quicker in a shaded forest and with its added height, gets more sunlight and the tree/s near it get less and can die. But I find the animal kingdom to be more interesting involving which one species, or which ones of a species lives or adapts better to keep the species “going.”

Some animals, like a skunk, have a special way of surviving. Its pungent “skunk spray” produced by anal glands is a rather good deterrent. However, it probably offers little help from great horned owls who are large enough to catch them, are also nocturnal, and like almost every bird species, have a terrible sense of smell. Turtles, once they get past their first year of life, have a shell which for the most part shields them from predators. A box turtle even has a hinged plastron (bottom plate) that allows the turtle to pull its limbs almost entirely inside.

But I think the adaptation that many animals use, protective coloration, is the most effective tool. Protective coloration (camouflage) is when an animal is colored much like its surroundings to help it almost become the surroundings. The varying hare, also called the snowshoe hare, is an uncommon resident of Pocono forested or swampy areas. This hare goes a step beyond by being able to change its fur color to match either the dull leaf covered forest floor (brown coat) or to a nearly all white fur to help it blend in with the snowy landscape in winter. The hare population is not doing very well. Of course, losing some of its habitat to the ever-growing housing developments and now warehouses, etc., is a factor. But my theory is recently we have been having less snow each winter and a nearly all white “bunny” doesn’t blend in to the brown winter forest floors. It can’t change its fur color quickly like a chameleon. Once its fur is white by early December, it remains white until late winter.

White-tailed deer have subtle hair color changes from summer to fall and again from spring through summer. Their more grayish winter fur blends in better with the drab forest colors of fall, winter, and early spring. While much smaller, a cottontail rabbit needs to blend in with so many different predators looking to feast on them.

Every now and then we cross paths with an albino or piebald deer (partial albino) and I think they must really be lucky. Imagine, an all-white fawn laying quietly on the forest floor for much of its first few days of life. To survive to be an adult deer it needed to avoid the prowling eyes of bears, coyotes, foxes, and bobcats. I imagine more albino animals are born than we realize but their lack of protective coloration certainly limits the advantages the normally colored animals have.

Insects, like many caterpillars or bugs, that don’t have a stinger or bad taste, are masters at becoming part of the leaf, grass, or tree trunk where they live and feed. Leaf eating caterpillars, grasshoppers, and myriad other insects survive by blending in. Even the praying mantis that eats them, utilizes its protective coloration to sneak up on the insects or to avoid birds that would eat them as well. Copperheads, northern water snakes, even timber rattlesnakes, which are predators, have perfected protective coloration too.

Nature reminder for this week. Unless a cold snap occurs, look for your first flocks of robins arriving, and don’t be surprised to see a bluebird pair or two “checking out” your nest boxes as well. Look skyward to see the first turkey vultures returning again to the Times News region.

Test Your Outdoor Knowledge: The American goldfinch eats only seeds and is classified as a(n) _____. A. Insectivore; B. Granivore; C. Carnivore; D. omnivore.

Last Week’s Trivia Answer: If you find bird feathers on the snow from a recent predator kill, it was most likely a hawk rather than an owl. Hawks will pluck their prey before feeding.

Email Barry Reed at breed71@gmail.com