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Over time, animals have developed many ways to stay away from predators. A predator is an animal that hunts and eats other animals. Hiding is one of the best ways to stay alive.

Some animals hide by looking like the places where they live. To see how this works, let's look at the leafy sea dragon. You may never have heard of this sea creature, but it is a master of disguise.

The sea dragon is covered with skin that looks like leaves. The skin helps the dragon look like a piece of seaweed. A hungry meat-eater would stay away from anything that looks like seaweed.

Leaf-like skin is just one part of the sea dragon's disguise. Its fins make another part. They are small. They slowly push the dragon through the water. So the dragon looks like it's floating—just like seaweed.

The sea dragon's mouth completes its disguise. The mouth looks like just another seaweed stem. There are even small "leaves" at the end! Yet it's actually a tube that works like a straw. That mouth is great for slurping up the dragon's favorite food—sea lice. Yum!

The leafy sea dragon hides to stay safe. Other animals stay safe by showing their colors. They want other animals to see them.

Scientists call these bright colors warning colors. The colors tell predators to stay away.

You have probably seen animals that have warning colors. Think, for instance, of all those insects that buzz by you on warm days. When one flies by, you likely swat it away. But what happens when a yellow bug flies in your face? Do you swat it? Or do you jump away?

You guessed it. Yellow is a warning color. It tells you that the pesky pest might be a bumblebee or a yellow wasp. You don't want to bug those insects.

Some grasshoppers show off their own bright colors. A few are even red and blue. Those colors don't just look spiffy. They tell predators to stay away.

Of course, hungry predators sometimes ignore the warning. They still go after the grasshopper. If that happens, the grasshopper has a backup defense. It makes lots of foam. The foam tastes so bad that the predator won't do it again.

Many animals use colors to match the place they live in. This is called camouflage. Some even change colors with the seasons.

The snowshoe hare has rusty brown fur in summer. It blends in with the colors of fields. In fall, the hare loses its brown fur. It grows thick white fur. The new fur matches the snow in winter. It also keeps the hare warm.

Color doesn't offer enough protection for some other animals. They have different defenses that help them survive in the wild.

The armadillo needs all the defenses it can get. It is only about two feet long and weighs 15 pounds. It has small teeth. So it cannot even bite to protect itself.

Instead the armadillo has an armored shell. The armor is made out of bony plates. Armor protects this animal from bumps and bruises. The armor also makes it much harder for a predator to eat an armadillo.

An armadillo does not just rely on its armor, though. It has a couple of other tricks. When an armadillo spots a predator, it first tries to run away. A scared armadillo darts for the safety of its burrow. A burrow is an underground home.

But that's just the beginning. If an armored armadillo cannot get away, it hides in its shell. First it tucks in its legs and ears. Then it rolls its shell together. It turns itself into a living ball. It's an animal roll-up.

Most hungry hunters don't know how to eat an armadillo roll-up. They can prod and poke. They can toss the roll-up around. But they cannot find a tasty bite to eat.

Like the armadillo, the frilled lizard tries to run away when it spots a predator. It darts up a tree. Or it hops on its back legs and dashes across the forest. But that doesn't always work.

Sometimes the lizard can't just run away. When that happens, it tries to bluff its way out of becoming a tasty treat. It pretends to be bigger than it really is. It also acts tough.

The lizard opens its mouth as wide as it can. The skin around its neck pops out like an umbrella. It hisses and whips its long tail around. This makes the lizard look bigger and scarier than usual.

These moves often work. They scare some predators away. Other hungry hunters may not be scared exactly. Yet they go looking for other snacks. Few animals want to mess with this crazy critter. Either way, the lizard wins. It lives to eat its own supper of delicious insects and spiders.

Many fish live in groups, or schools. That's because there is safety in numbers.

At the first sign of trouble, schooling fish swim as close together as they can get. Then the school makes lots of twists and turns. All that movement makes it hard for predators to make a meal out of just one fish. Many other animals also stay safe by moving in groups. Predators cannot see individuals in a large group.

These are only a few of the ways that animals escape predators. They have other defenses too. Just look around. Cats arch their backs to look big and scary. Green grasshoppers blend into grass. Claws and teeth help animals fight. These adaptations, or useful traits, are quite different. Yet they share one purpose. They all keep an animal from landing on the menu.

Article by Susan E. Goodman. "On the Menu" appears on pages 4-9 of our March 2005 issue.

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Wordwise Challenge: Animal Escape Artists
Our online word search includes vocabulary from the "On the Menu" article.

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