Camouflage

When I wander through the back country of western Montana, the roadless areas and the wilderness, I nearly always dress in full camouflage because I prefer to blend in with the natural surroundings and also because I find that it disturbs the native wildlife much less and often gives me the chance to be very close to them. However, here is an example of a real expert at camouflage and his life depends on the success of his strategy.

There is a cottontail rabbit in the above photo. His outline can be dimly seen just below the middle and to the left of center, a place where I frequently see him on my daily walks. He is so confident of his camouflage and his protected sitting place that he will usually just stay put while I walk to within 15 feet, even when my dog is with me. At the time of this photo he had his back turned to me (not his best side), but in the following photo taken a couple of hours earlier from the same exact spot (using all of the zoom my little camera could muster) he was watching me.

I have to admit that as good as my camo is, it pales in comparison to his!

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Bunny

As soon as I saw him this baby Cottontail just captivated me and so I posted this today instead of what I had planned to. He’s hardly any larger than a softball, and in my opinion has the concept of “cute” all wrapped up! He certainly should not have let me get that close though.

This morning I think I set a brand new standard for being obnoxious: you’re supposed to frighten rabbits, not just merely annoy them with your camera! This adult didn’t have as much patience as the baby.

Window

To one extent or another, we all have our own little windows on the world.

Different strategies

As a result of spending most of a lifetime in the outdoors, I have an understanding of how at least a part of nature works. But I still have a big list of question marks.

For example, I just noticed two photos that sit side by side in one of my files (which are getting completely out of hand, by the way), having been taken on adjacent days. The first one is of a Cottontail who is taking full advantage of his natural camouflage, and that certainly makes a lot of sense. He is easy to overlook, even to a trained eye.

But what in the world is the strategy of this little crab spider? (I do have to admire his attitude though!)