I’m often fascinated by natural camouflage, and even included a bit about it in the book:
Nature is also the true master of camouflage. From the almost invisible stone flounder and octopus to the snow fox, leafy sea dragon, and praying mantis, stealth is the difference between life and death. Unless mating, nature’s creatures do not like to be seen or heard, because to be seen often means to be either eaten or starve. This hasn’t been lost on warriors. Native peoples around the world adorned themselves with feathers, branches, animal skins, and paints to disappear on the hunt; and all modern armies have studied nature’s systems and adopted her finer points. Nature uses several types of camouflage including: mimetic, which works by mimicking an object’s shape or color, like a leafy sea dragon, octopus, or stick insect; or disruptive, which uses patterns and colors like a flounder that disappears into the sea floor or a leopard in a sun-dappled forest glade. The world’s military forces are great users of DPM—disruptive pattern material. So effective are today’s strategies
that the Australian Army recently misplaced a camouflaged truck while on off-road exercises. Authorities had to appeal through the local media to enlist the public’s assistance in locating the lost equipment.(Excerpt from The Shark’s Paintbrush, copyright Jay Harman. All rights reserved.)
In this excerpt, I reference the fascinating work of Dr. Carlo Kopp at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. Someone sent me Highlanders, a WordPress site that include a stunning collection of camo photography drawn from every corner of the natural world. My favorite is the discreetly hidden saltwater crocodile–what’s yours?
