Instead of standing out in a crowd, some animals like to blend in with their surroundings. That is called camouflage! Camouflage is used by animals to hide from predators and to catch prey. There are different types of camouflage. The first is concealing color. This means that the animal is the same color as the environment around it, blending it in. Examples of concealing color camouflage are chameleons changing the color of their skin and polar bears blending in with the snow. There is also mimicry, when animals mimic or copy the looks of other animals. That other animal may be poisonous. When creatures look at those animals using mimicry, they mistake them for something they’re not! An example is the scarlet kingsnake. It has a black, red, and white striped pattern that mimics that of the venomous coral snake. The scarlet kingsnake is not actually poisonous! That is what camouflage is!
