Animal Protection Strategies

8/7/2019 Animal Protection Strategies

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Animal ProtectionStrategies

All photos, text, and graphics copyright 2007

Kris Light

http://www.easttennesseewildflowers.com

K. Light
http://www.easttennesseewildflowers.com/http://www.easttennesseewildflowers.com/


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Ways animals protect themselves

Camouflage hiding in plain view

Covering themselves or burrowing underground

Being alert to their surroundings

Venom - Biting or stinging

Poison touched or eaten

Mimicry looking like another animal

Protective coloration, false eyespots

Horns or antlers

Claws, teeth

Shells Living in groups herds, flocks, schools


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Masters of disguise the camouflage

artistsAnimals mayhave skin, scales

or feathers thatlook like part oftheirenvironment. Theflounder can

change its skinpatterns to matchthe background.Some animals

add things fromtheirenvironment; thecaterpillar addedflowers to itsbody to help itblend in with itsfood source.

Caterpillar covered

in flowers

Leafy Sea Dragon

Flounder

Owl

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More examples of camouflage

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Anoles can changecolor

Jellyfish are transparent

Sea Anemones cover themselvesWith shells and sand when closed

The Snowy Plover is thecolor of the sand

Lynx Spider blendsin with the leaves The Stingray matches the sand


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Mimicry looking like someone else Some harmless

animals mimicdangerous ordistasteful animalsto fool predators

into not eatingthem. The harmless

Scarlet Milk Snakemimics the red,yellow and black

stripes of thevenomous CoralSnake. Red onBlack, Venom lack,Red on yellow, Kill afellow!The Humming birdclearwing mothlooks a lot like abumblebee to ahungry bird. The

Viceroy butterflyclosely resemblesthe distastefulMonarch butterfly.

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moth

Bumblebee

ViceroyButterfly

Monarch ButterflyScarlet milksnake


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The Element of Surprise! If a bird tries to

eat either ofthese moths it

will be in for abig surprise!The mothssuddenly open

their upperwings exposingeither eyespots

or bright colorsto frighten thepredator away.

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Io MothTiger Moth


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There is no such thingas a poisonous spideror snake, they can be

eaten! Animalsthat bite or sting arevenomous. Think of aV as being like sharpfangs or a stinger

to inject poison. Thecopperhead and lionfishare venomous becausethey have eitherfangs or spines.

The monarch caterpillarand the salamander arepoisonousif eaten by apredator. Poisons

have to be touched oreaten to be dangerous.Think of a P as beinground like theend of a tongue or

finger.

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Venomous Poisonous


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Poisonous or Venomous?

Answers: 1. V, 2. P, 3. P, 4. V, 5. V, 6. P

1. Bumblebee 2. Monarch Butterfly 3. Ladybug

5. Garden spider

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4. DiamondbackRattlesnake

Millipede

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Chemical warfare

This Stink Beetle is

giving a warning that itdoes not want to be

bothered by doing a

headstand. If apredator does not heed

this warning, the beetle

will blast it with a hot,

smelly liquid from the

end of its abdomen!

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If you touch or eat me, Ill hurt you or

make you sick!

It may be hard to believe

a tiny blue frog could killyou or a pretty greencaterpillar could give youpainful stings if you pickedthem up. A cute, red

ladybug and an orangesalamander would tasteterrible if you ate them.These animals cant talk,

but they have ways oftelling potentialpredators to stay away!

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Io moth caterpillar

Ladybug

Salamander

Poison Dart Frog

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Porcupine

An Aphid squirtingchemicals

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Protective coloration, stripes

and spots Bright colors in

nature are oftenindicative of avenomous orpoisonous animal.

Red and black,Yellow and black,Orange and black,

and Yellow andBrown are warningcolors. Can youthink of other

animals with thesecolors?

The stripesin the eyeof this

Butterfly fishbreak up thepattern of thetrue eye.The black spots

on the backfins are falseeyes which areintended to lurepredators away

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Milkweed Moth caterpillar

4-eyed Milkweed Beetle


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Antlers and horns Some hoofed animals have

either horns or antlers. They

are used for protection, to

fight other males to gaindominance, and to impressthe ladies!

Deer, elk, and moose haveantlers, they are made of

bone and fall off in the late

winter.

Goats and sheep have horns

(they dont fall off). They are

made mostly of keratin, like

our fingernails!

Elk

Big Horn Sheep

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Being alert to their surroundings Many prey animals are

constantly checking out theirsurroundings for predators byusing their keen senses of

sight, hearing and smell. Theyfreeze in place makingthemselves difficult to detect;most mammal predators dontsee color well and they may

not see prey animals unlesstheir movement gives themaway.

Animals such as the rabbit anddeer can move their ears

independently to better detectpredators. Most prey animalshave their eyes on the side oftheir head in order to have awider field of view (but theygive up depth of field in theirvision).

White-tail Deer

Gray squirrel

Cottontail Rabbit

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ShellsSome animals areable to close

the soft parts oftheir bodyinside a shellfor defense.

Hermit crabsrecycle shellsof dead marinesnails. Theymust find a newone when they

outgrow the oldone.

Many seacreatures haveshells to protect

themselvesfrom beingeaten, dried outduring low tide,or from beingsmashed by the

poundingwaves.

Snail

Mussels and barnacles

Box TurtleHermit crab

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Safety in numbers

Animals often mass together in

flocks, herds, schools, etc. toprotect themselves from beingeaten.

The mass of fungus gnatlarvae moved together in alarge group to look like a smallsnake!

Bison and other herdinganimals protect themselves

and their young from predatorsby grouping together.

Fungus gnat larvae

Bison in Yellowstone NP

Pelicans and Sea gulls

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End of Presentation

http://EastTennesseeWildflowers.com

Kris Light ([email protected])
http://easttennesseewildflowers.com/http://easttennesseewildflowers.com/

Documents

Animal Protection Strategies