PHOTO PROVIDED A dog is shown after he located a woodcock. The woodcock is well camouflaged and very hard to find.

When looking through any hunting magazine you are sure to see pictures of hunters dressed in camouflage. Hunters venturing out during the archery season, for deer, bear or elk, will wear camouflage clothing to blend in with the background so they can get closer to the game they are hunting.

Our word camouflage reached the English language during World War I when the art of concealing objects from the enemy was considerably developed. Camouflage is of French origin, a derivative of the verb camoufler, which means disguise, coming from Italian camuffare, meaning disguise or trick.

In the animal kingdom, the utmost concern for an animal is getting a meal, with the next concern not becoming a meal itself. This camouflage helps smaller and weaker animals in their struggle to survive against their natural enemies.

Although camouflage is not enough to guarantee success in staying alive, it is one of the most fascinating ways.

Animals have been using this art of concealment since the beginning of time. For some animals, the only means of protection is to be indistinguishable with their background.

Most animals struggle to survive from birth to death. Birds that lay white eggs do so in protective places where they cannot be seen. There are birds that lay their eggs out in the open. For example, the killdeer will lay its eggs in open areas, usually on top of gravel. A killdeer’s eggs are speckled just as the gravel, which makes it more difficult for predators to find their eggs.

Deer are easily seen during the winter months when snow is on the ground. At this time of the year, camouflage is not being used for protection. Instead, the deer are using sight, smell, hearing and speed to outwit their enemies, including man.

However, when the fawn is born, it is not capable of determining danger due to lack of experience and an inability to run away. With nature’s camouflaging, the fawn simply blends in with the patches of sunlight on the forest floor.

During its first few weeks of life, the fawn produces very little scent. This helps in protecting the fawn from predators that cannot kill what they cannot see or smell. Later, the fawn’s coat changes to the familiar brown color.

During the winter months, the weasel turns white except for its black-tipped tail. While wearing its winter coat, this small animal (an ermine) blends in with the snow-covered background not only for concealment and protection but also for catching a meal.

I often wondered why the tip of the ermine’s tail remains black, and after checking, I found that the black tip on the tail is to confuse predators.

A hawk diving towards an ermine could become distracted when seeing the black tip on the tail and try to catch the tail instead of the ermine’s head. If this happens, the ermine is able to escape.

The word ermine is from the Latin word mus armenius, meaning Armenian mouse. It is assumed that this denoted a stoat or weasel.

At first, ermine was being applied to the weasel’s fur, specifically to its white winter fur. According to Native Americans, the weasel is thought to have foretold the coming of the white man and the resulting destruction.

The snowshoe hare also turns white during the winter months. This is done for protection only. While sitting on the white snow, the hare becomes almost invisible to the fox, hawk and even the sharp-eyed owls. Northern Pennsylvania is at the southern end of the hare’s range, which usually occurs only at elevations above 2,000 feet.

There is still a good population of hares in northeastern Pennsylvania.

The Native Americans were masters at hunting because of their ability to camouflage themselves. Due to their primitive equipment, an early native hunter often draped the skin of a deer or buffalo over his body to get closer to the quarry. While crawling on his hands and knees, the native hunter maneuvered himself upwind from grazing animals.

With great patience and stealth, the hunter slowly crawled close enough to the grazing herd to get a shot with either his spear or bow and arrow.

Imagine the courage it took for a native hunter to crawl among a herd of buffalo, with a buffalo skin draped over his body, knowing quite well that the herd could become spooked and stampede. This method of killing a buffalo often resulted in the death of the hunter.

By being so adept at camouflage, the Native Americans were able to catch turkeys by hand.

The woodcock is well suited to woodland habitat because its dead-leaf pattern of variegated brown, black and gray above and rusty color on the chest, make it very difficult to see.

Both sexes are colored alike, however, the female is larger. The woodcock has a large head, with large dark eyes that are set far back and high on the head. The woodcock has three outer primary feathers that are stiffened.

These feathers produce a twittering whistle when the bird is startled in flight.

Bill Bower is a retired Pennsylvania Game Commission Wildlife Officer. Read his blog and listen to his podcasts on the outdoors at www.onemaningreen.com.