Summary
Camouflage is one of the most widespread and most important adaptations in the animal kingdom. In seasonal environments, many bird and mammal species (e.g., snowshoe hares, short-tailed weasels, willow ptarmigans) change from brown in summer to white in winter to stay camouflaged against snow. But due to environmental variability, these seasonally color molting species can become more visible to predators or prey during years with unusual snow cover. For example, if snow comes late in the fall or melts very early in the spring the animals’ coat color might be mismatched with the environment. T
