Scientists had good reason to suspect firefly lights send out a warning. They have learned from other animals that send out warnings too. With their bright skin, poison dart frogs are saying, “Don’t eat us! We’re poison!” The stinky smell of sea slugs warns would-be eaters that they sting. Tiger moths let out ultra-high sounds that let bats know they taste bad. Most animals have a way of keeping themselves safe. To stay alive, some even use deception.

Copycatting. In 1862, English naturalist Henry Bates discovered a mimicking game played by butterflies in Brazil. The Heliconiidae family of butterflies tastes bad to birds. Their bright colors send a warning. Another species, the Pieridae, don’t have a bad taste. But they look a lot like Heliconiidae butterflies. Will a predator take a chance if he can’t tell the difference? Not likely! The Pieridae are safe.

Camouflage. Don’t look now, but that tree branch just got up and scrambled away! Well, it looked like a tree branch. Really it was a leaf-tailed gecko. The name fits. Leaf-tailed geckos have broad, flat tails that look like leaves. Their bodies are usually brown and green and marked like tree bark. These creatures can take a nap in the sunshine without worrying a predator will see through their clever camouflage.

Playing Possum.  You throw a baseball through a window. When someone asks you, you say, “I don’t know anything about it!” You’re “playing possum,” or pretending ignorance to get out of trouble. Opossums pretend to be dead when confronted by a predator. Predators usually like prey that’s still alive. Playing dead isn’t just for opossums. Certain sharks, snakes, and ducks do the same.

Hiding Out. Many animals hide among rocks or burrow into holes to escape danger. And some use tools to make them stronger than they really are. People have even seen octopuses carting coconut shells along the ocean floor. When threatened, the octopi hide behind the shells like armor!