The Human Side of Animals | Page 7

clings so closely to the body of a tree while waiting for his
prey as to be almost invisible.
This phenomenon is true throughout the animal world. Everywhere
does Nature aid in escape and capture. Only those skilled in the ways of
the wild fully realise how conspicuous amidst foliage, for instance,
would be a uniform colouration. A parti-coloured pattern is extremely
deceptive and thus protective, and for this reason one seldom sees in
Nature a background of one colour; and since the large majority of

animals need concealment, it is necessary for them to be clothed in
patterns that vary.
These variations are especially noticeable in young animals, and
furnish them with a mantle that is practically invisible to predatory
enemies during the time they are left unprotected by their parents.
These protective mantles often differ strikingly in pattern and
colouration from those of their parents, and indicate that the young
animals present the colouration and pattern of their remote forbears. It
might even be said that "the skins of the fathers are thrust upon the
children, even unto the third and fourth generation!" In fact, it is quite
probable that they give through this varying colouration the
"life-history" of their family.
In all hoofed animals--antelope, deer, horses--the protective colouration
is also adapted to habitat and environment. Most deer belong to the
forest, carefully avoiding the open deserts and staying near water. They
live chiefly in the jungle or scrub, and are usually spotted with red and
white in such a way as to be almost invisible to a casual observer; some,
however, that live in the very shady places are uniformly dark so as to
harmonise with their surroundings. The wild horses and asses of
Central Asia are dun-coloured--corresponding exactly to their sandy
habitat.
The Shakesperian conception of the human world as a stage may be
paralleled in the animal world. Animals, like human beings, have all a
definite rôle to play in the drama of life. Each is given certain
equipment in form, colour, voice, demeanour, ambitions, desires, and
natural habitat. Some are given much, others but little. Many have
succeeded well in the art of camouflage while endeavouring to make a
success in life. This success has brought the desired opportunity of
mating, rearing young, bequeathing to them their special gifts and
living in ease and comfort.
One of the most successful and striking cases of protective colouration
in young animals is found in wild swine. Here there is longitudinal
striping which marks them from head to tail in broad white bands, over
a background of reddish dark brown. The tapirs have a most unique

form of marking. It is similar in the young of the South American and
Malayan species. Their bodies are exquisitely marked in snow-white
bars. At their extremities these bars are broken up into small dots which
tend to overlap each other. During the daytime these young animals
seek the shade of the bushes and as the spots of sunlight fall upon the
ground they appear so nearly one with their environment as to pass
unnoticed by their enemies. The adults, however, vary greatly one from
another in colouration. The American species is self-coloured, while
the Malayan has the most unique pattern known to the animal world.
The fore-quarters, the head, and the hind-legs are black, while the rest
of the body from the shoulders backwards is of a dirt-white colour.
It has been observed by all students of Nature that bold and gaudy
animals usually have means of defending themselves that make them
very disagreeable to their enemies. They either have poisonous fangs,
sharp spines, ferocious claws, or disagreeable odours. There are still
others that escape destruction because of the bad company with which
they are associated by their enemies.
The reptiles offer us many good examples of mimicry. Most arboreal
lizards wear the colour of the leaves upon which they feed; the same is
true of the whip-snakes and the tiny green tree-frogs. A striking
example of successful camouflage is found in the case of a North
American frog whose home is on lichen-covered rocks and walls,
which he so closely imitates in colour and pattern as to pass unnoticed
so long as he remains quiet. I have seen an immense frog, whose home
was in a damp cave, with large green and black spots over his body
precisely like the spots on the sides of his home.
Author Note: The word "mimicry" as used here implies a particular
kind of resemblance only, a resemblance in external appearance, never
internal, a resemblance that deceives. It does not imply voluntary
imitation. Both the words "mimicry" and "imitation" are used to imply
outward likeness. The object of the outward likeness or resemblance is
to cause a harmless or unprotected animal to be mistaken for