SPENCERVILLE, OH (WLIO) - The Johnny Appleseed Metro Park District taught kids why they might not always see animals when they go to the park.
Families were invited to Johnny Appleseed's "Stories in the Woods" program at Kendrick Woods. The naturalist read a collection of poems about camouflaged animals, then the group took a hike where they spotted different colored pipe cleaners to demonstrate examples of good and poor camouflage in a natural setting. There was also a variety of animal skins, feathers, and a turtle shell that kids could feel and see the animals' colors close up.
Johnny Appleseed Metro Park Naturalist, Amy Banner, says that camouflaged animals are everywhere if you know where to look.
"Like a squirrel, if you look at it on the top it's kind of grayish but then as you look up it's a little bit more white so it can camouflage with the sky as well. So, they're utilizing camouflage all the time, and those are just the animals that we can see. There's other animals that really blend in, like a tree frog, we would almost never see that because it's so well camouflaged it looks exactly like what it's hiding in," she said.
Banner also explained to the group how many animals change the color of their fur depending on the season.
