Lessons from Predators

Camouflage. You see it everywhere these days. It’s on coffee mugs, dresses, dress shirts, ties, seat covers in trucks, and wildlife photographers standing along the side of the road photographing next to their vehicles. Somewhere along the way, camo made the evolutionary leap from the utilitarian to and oddly American fashion and a distinguishing mark of certain cultures.

Many predators making their living by it. Some photographers swear by it. Others wouldn’t be caught dead in it. Hunters spend thousands on camouflage. And, in some ways, wildlife photographers have similar needs and face similar problems in the field as both hunters and predators.  

But is any of this necessary? 

Coffee mugs and dress shirts aside, do we as wildlife photographers really need to deck ourselves out in the latest Real Tree, Mossy Oak, or Shadow Grass patterns to be successful photographers?

Producing camo these days is big business. How much of this is really necessary and how much of it is just designed to separate you from your money?

To understand the answer to this question though, we have to go beyond the marketing hype. To understand the how, when, and why of camouflage, we must understand how animals see in the first place. And even more to the point, how they do it themselves.

Albert Einstein once said, “Look deep into Nature, and then you will understand everything better.”

I couldn’t agree more.

When we think of concealing ourselves from animals, maybe it should be the animals themselves we listen to instead of the need to please shareholders.

Evolution has been finetuning the art of camouflage for some 3.5 billion years as predator and prey have danced their dance ever since one species realized it could live by others dying. As wildlife photographers, it’s time we take lessons on concealment from those whose very lives depend upon it.

If we can agree that animals themselves should be the ones we take lessons from on how to conceal ourselves from other animals, then the logical place to start here is with exactly how the world sees color.

First things first: rods and cones.

This is not a biology class so I will keep it short. Rods are for gathering light while cones are for gathering color. Exactly when an animal is most active determines the number and ratio of rods to cones in their eyes. This alone can tell you quite a bit about how your wildlife subject sees the world. If it’s a nocturnal species, it probably has little need for recognizing color and therefore the presence of cones. If it’s a strictly diurnal animal, color takes precedence over night vision. Animals that are most active at the edges of light, what we refer to as crepuscular, will have a more even ratio.

When it comes to cones and color, however, there is a caveat in all of this. Just because an animal is active during the day does not mean it needs to see color – especially the way we do. Remember that two basic things drive all live on earth: food and sex. Most traits in animals can be traced back to one of these two necessities. And this is something you should keep in mind when it comes to our discussion on color.  

Paramount to understanding how animals see color is first recognizing that you are somewhat unique in the world. Much to our dismay, however, this is not in the way our collective ego likes to think. You are a primate. And as such, you are relatively different from just about every mammal on earth in that you have access to a rich palette of various colors. Birds and insects have us beat on color perception, and actually have access to even more colors than ourselves. But in the realm of mammals, most only see a couple of different colors and some do not see any at all.  

Case in point. . .

Laws in the United States mandate that all hunters where a certain amount of “blaze orange” on themselves while in the woods. The idea behind this is that it makes you visible to other hunters. Nothing else in the woods is going to be large mass of dayglow orange walking around. This is a safety measure to keep people from getting shot.

The reason that blaze orange was chosen is because it’s a color that is instantly noticeable to humans, but other animals can’t see it. You and I evolved to be visually attuned to reds and yellows. This is a primate thing. This is a find fruit in the forest thing.

We overwhelmingly use our sense of sight to analyze and understand the world around us. And that massive brain between your ears is uniquely suited for recognizing patterns and detecting small things that disrupt those patterns – such as a bright color that doesn’t belong, especially reds and yellows.

Blaze orange doesn’t belong. It stands out from all other colors in the woods. And it has the benefit of being completely invisible to species such as deer.

You see, deer cannot see the color red. So, anything that is red, or any color that falls on the red end of the color spectrum, is indistinguishable to them from either grey or other colors they are able to see.

So, what exactly can deer see?

Research shows that members of the deer family see blue, green, and potentially some ultraviolet colors which humans cannot.

Think back to the 1950s when simple flannel shirts were more often than not the outwear of choice for hunters. Understanding how animals perceive color says a lot about this choice of clothing. With alternating patterns of black and red, the old school “lumberjack flannel” looks like splotches black and gray to members of the deer family - ultimately helping to break up the shape of a human.

And this the whole point of camouflage to begin with. The purpose is not to look like a tree. It’s to break up and distort the human shape.

I do want to make sure I am clear on something though before we continue. When I say “deer,” I’m not just talking about whitetail deer (which many American readers may assume). The word deer encompass some 47 different species, and 60+ subspecies, worldwide. This includes everything from the likes of caribou, red deer, elk, and moose to name just a few. And all members of the deer family basically have the same type of vision.

Deer are not the only “color blind” animals out there. Canines also fit the bill. Wolves, coyotes, and foxes are red / green color blind. This means that reds and greens appear to be various shades of gray to them or they are unable to distinguish one from the other. The red fox may very well be red because it helps conceal it from coyotes – it’s arch nemesis. Likewise, in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, you find that basically every species of ungulate (hoofed mammal) such as bison, elk, and moose all give birth to red colored babies. This red fur visually conceals the offspring of these animals from wolves and coyotes when they are first born. A red colored baby bedded down in green grass or sagebrush is nothing more than grey on grey.

Bears, on the other hand, have similar vision to that of humans. But reds are still something of a problem for them. Bears are not red color blind like most mammals, but they can only see it in subdued forms. The reason that bears see colors more similar to us, and reds at all, probably has much to do with their diets. As bears are omnivorous and have a similar diet as we would in nature-based communities, it is important for bears to be able to distinguish different colors when foraging for food. Bears love their berries. Again, food and sex – the grand orchestrators of all live on Earth.

A black bear feeding on hawthorn berries

But let’s stop here for a moment.

When it comes to photographing big mammals, the above-mentioned species pretty much sums it up. There are a few missing families here, of course, but you get the idea.

So, if we take the majority of big mammals and break down what it is that they can actually see, we quickly realize that color is less important than one might assume. I hear photographers on workshops stress out that another participant wore a red jacket as opposed to their own black one. But if mammals are the priority, it matters not. In fact, red might just be one of the best colors to wear in the woods next to gray ironically. And blue is the one color you definitely DO NOT want to wear.

With this in mind, you can probably begin to see that expensive modern-day camouflage clothing is designed more for consumers than it is for concealing.

Take a walk through the aisles of any big-name outdoor store like Cabela’s or Bass Pro Shops today, and you will find yourself lost in a jungle of camouflage patterns. It seems as though manufacturers have concocted an infinite variety of patterns that could cover just about any and every situation imaginable.

The point of camouflage is to break up the human form. This, in turn, allows us to effectively blend in throughout a variety of situations. For wildlife photography, we need to put the emphasis here on “variety.” Sometimes we are in dense forest. Other times we are in tall grass. When I’m working in places like Montana and Wyoming, the habitat may be rocky outcroppings for bighorn sheep. On the steppes of the Rockies, it’s a sea of sagebrush when photographing grouse or pronghorn. And unless you plan to sit in one place and never move, then there is also the lighting conditions to consider as well.  

Of course, you could go out and buy camouflage clothing that blends perfectly with a desert environment, then another set for dense forest, and another for grasslands, and still more so you look like the bark of a deciduous tree. That’s one strategy. But it’s important to understand this has more to do with an effective business model than it does effective concealment.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, however.

Most camouflage designed for hunters ends up almost looking like a work of art unto itself. A fold of brown grass here. A cattail head there. The details are intricate. And it’s all designed to make us think, “wow!”

The problem with such detailed patterns goes WAY beyond matching a specific type of habitat and season, however.

Stop and think about ever predator that relies on camouflage like owls and bobcats do. Have you ever seen something that looks like the shape of a cattail head or a maple leaf in their feathers or fur?

You see, the intricate detail we now find in most commercial camouflage is designed to conceal you when at very close range and well after you have had time to get into place settle down and further attempted to conceal yourself with natural vegetation.

Great grey owls don’t do this.

Bobcats don’t do this.

A female bobcat resting in a snow well beneath a lodgepole pine tree. Bobcats live an die by their ability to conceal themselves from prey. Notice the distinct lack of leaves and sticks and marsh grass shaped patters stamped on this cat’s fur. Instead, it’s a mixture of dark and light areas set to a mid-tone background just like a great gray owl.

In fact, no predator on land does this except for hunters.

As a wildlife photographer, you need to think like an owl or a bobcat - not a hunter.

Intricate camo is only designed to work at close range and with the aid of natural vegetation. From any sort of distance, such as 50 feet, all of the detail begins to “fill in.”

When the details fill in, what you are left with is a solid human shaped mass. The eyes of animals have evolved, like ours, to pick out shapes from the chaos of vegetation.

Remember, your ability to see color is a consequence of your ancestors’ diet. Biological characteristics serve purposes. Color was an important trait for us to have. But that doesn’t make it better since black and white, or color-blind, vision benefits other animals by helping them to look past the chaos of nature and home in on what’s important – that which doesn’t belong.

In a kaleidoscope of colors, there is a lot of data that your mind has to process. Remove the colors, and things become much more simplified. And when your ability to survive depends upon seeing things before they see you, noticing shape and form and “different” is a matter of life and death.

This is why the camouflage of both predators and military alike steer clear of intricate shapes and patterns and details. Instead, they focus on balancing a mixture of mid tones with highlights and shadows.

If you are stalking an animal, if you get caught out in the open, if you are not motionless at close quarters with natural vegetation to help aid in the concealment process, then you will stick out like a sore thumb and you might as well have just walked in with no consideration of concealment what so ever.

Intricate camo patterns “fill in” when viewed at a distance and become obsolete. End of story. An animal doesn’t see the pattern of a cattail head on your jacket from 100 feet away.

Now, I do a lot of my photography from blinds – especially when it comes to photographing waterfowl. In this type of situation, I’m settled into where I will be photographing for the morning long before the sun rises. I have taken the time to “brush up” with natural vegetation over top and around me. I am covered from head to toe in camouflage. Hands, face, head, you name it. Natural vegetation is then used to further blend in and actually break up my shape.  My camera has vegetation concealing it, as does my tripod. Only after all of this, have I concealed myself effectively to allow extraordinarily skittish species such as ducks in the wild to come in close enough for me to make frame filling photographs of them.

This is how intricately detailed camouflage is designed to work.

Chances are, however, 99.9% of wildlife photographers will never do this.

This is not a statement of commitment though. 99.9% of wildlife photographers will never do this because in 99.9% of all situations it’s simply not necessary.

I want you to take a moment and think of some of the best camouflaged predators in the natural world. When we talk about camo and predators, probably the first thing to come to mind is the tiger. The stealth and hunting prowess of this big cat is legendary. A splash of orange here, a stripe of black there, all mixed up with highlights of white. Mid tones, shadows, highlights.

Millions of years worth of evolution went into the design of the tiger’s camouflage. The dance between predator and prey is like a pendulum ever swinging back and forth as adaptive advantage begets dynamic equilibrium with each party working tirelessly, on a genetic basis, to keep one step ahead of the other.

Time and hunger have designed the camouflage of the tiger, much as it has the great gray owl – another one of natures ultimate stealth machines. The great gray owl’s camouflage is set to a background of 18% gray, with vertical highlights juxtaposed with strips of brown and flecks of darker gray. Like the tiger, this pattern is millions of years in the making.

What makes these patterns so deadly is the fact that they not only break up the shape of the predator, but they are nearly universal in application. These animals must work their way in closer and closer to their prey, remaining unseen as they do so. These patterns are not meant for one very specific habitat. These patterns are designed to offer maximum stealth in a variety of situations whether in the open, at a distance, or within striking range.

A great gray owl in a stand of paper birch trees.

Nowhere on these predators will you find a leaf, a cattail, or any sort of distinguishable marking that will make it look like any one thing. This is the camouflage that nature has selected for in order to fill the bellies of predators. Their survival depends upon these patterns. Whether they eat, mate, feed their young, and pass on their genes to the next generation depends upon the effectiveness of their camouflage.

As a wildlife photographer, you are a predator - not a bug trying to disguise itself as a leaf or a flake of bark. Your ability to conceal yourself must work in a wide variety of situations. You must be able to approach unnoticed. You must be able to conceal yourself with the same degree of effectiveness 150 feet away as you you do 50 feet away.

A whole lot of science goes into this sort of stuff for the military. Lives depend upon the effectiveness and universality of their camo. There is a reason that the military, with its billion-dollar budgets, has not adopted the intricate and artistic patterns of hunting apparel companies. The military doesn’t give a damn about what it looks like to us.

The science behind the camouflage patterns used by the military has always been based upon the same concepts used by predators. Today we see a revolutionary change over to digital camo patterns, but this is still based upon the concept of large patterns of mid tones, shadows, and highlights designed to be contrasted next to each other.

In the commercial camouflage market, the concept of break up is what wildlife photographers need in order to conceal themselves. Several companies have thought long and hard about the science of camouflage in regard to how predators utilize it. The result is a variety of “predator” based camo patterns. These are designed to break up your shape, and do so in a wide variety of situations. Situations, like those wildlife photographers find themselves in. Natural Gear is one of the leading names in predator inspired camo. But of all the commercially available camo manufacturers, one one has also been extensively tested by the US Military as well: Kryptec Camo.

This, for me, is an important distinction.

Humans are profoundly good at spotting patterns in the environment. As a wildlife photographer, the ability to recognize the natural pattern and see the anomaly within is how I make a living. Whether it’s a whitetail deer fawn bedded on the forest floor or a great gray owl perched next to the trunk of an aspen tree, as predators ourselves, humans have evolved to be able to see patterns and anomalies as our own form of natural superpower. And for this reason, if a specific type of camofluage is being used to conceal humans from other humans, then this gives me reason to take notice.