[Illustration: To feed its demanding young, the Swainson’s thrush hunts for insects along the forest floor and in the dense underbrush. This thrush relies on its secretive behavior to protect its nest near the ground from detection by other predators.] [Illustration: Armed with enlarged forelegs, the crab spider waits on or near flowers to ambush visiting bees, flies, or other insects. Its venom produces a quick kill, allowing it to attack insects many times its own size.] [Illustration: The spotted frog is a large-mouthed predator that not only eats water striders and other insects but also gulps down smaller frogs and small fish.] Protective Coloration To escape extermination, each species must in some manner foil its enemies. Protective coloration is one of the more common adaptations helping to do this. Most animals resemble their environment to some extent. The conspicuous markings of some, like the bitter-tasting monarch butterfly or the striped skunk, seem to function as a warning to prospective predators that it is in their best interest to look elsewhere for a meal. Some animals, such as the white-tailed ptarmigan and the snowshoe hare, have seasonal changes in plumage or pelage, wearing white in winter and brown in summer. Even predators, such as longtail and shorttail weasels, benefit from seasonal camouflage. Protective coloration makes them less noticeable to prey species and to larger predators. Many insects, too, change coloration with the season. Bright green grasshoppers of early summer become more brown with each molt, matching the changes in the surrounding vegetation. _Obliterative shading_ is especially important to animals that frequent more than one habitat. Seen from above, turtles match their dark background; from below, because of their lighter underbody shading they blend into the bright skylight. _Disruptive coloration_ aids in breaking up an animal’s outline. Butterflies and moths commonly have disruptive wing markings. The distinctive shapes of eyes can be concealed. Eye coloration may mimic body color—as in the green katydid—or the eye may continue disruptive body markings. Ground-nesting birds are especially vulnerable to attack. Their eggs tend to be heavily blotched with earthy colors, making them less conspicuous. Chicks also carry these disruptive colorations on natal down. Most mammals, with coats of brown or gray, are inconspicuous when motionless. Deer fawns are endowed with speckled coats, mimicking the sun-flecked forest floor; this disruptive coloration, coupled with absence of scent and their instinctive “freezing” behavior, makes it difficult for predators to detect them.