KIDS2018.12-2019.01

ERNI / SHUTTERSTOCK (WINTER FOX); ONDREJ PROSICKY / SHUTTERSTOCK (SUMMER FOX); JIM CUMMING /

SHUTTERSTOCK (WINTER HARE); FOTOREQUEST / SHUTTERSTOCK (SUMMER HARE); TOM MCHUGH / GETTY IMAGES (WINTER LEMMING); © ALL CANADA PHOTOS / ALAMY (SUMMER LEMMING); ANDREANITA / SHUT-

16 NAT GEO KIDS • DECEMBER 2018 | JANUARY 2019 TERSTOCK (WINTER PTARMIGAN); NICK PECKER / SHUTTERSTOCK (SUMMER PTARMIGAN); JUKKA JANTUNEN / SHUTTERSTOCK (WINTER ERMINE); MICHAEL MESHCHERYAKOV / SHUTTERSTOCK (SUMMER ERMINE)

THAT HARE?

An all-white look might work in the middle of

winter. But what about when the snow

starts to melt in spring, leaving large splotches

of mud everywhere? That’s when a patchy color

pattern helps. Snowshoe hares’ winter fur

grows in patches instead of showing up evenly.

This adaptation makes it difficult for predators

to tell them apart from a landscape that looks

both brown and white.

Harp seals permanently ditch their white fur about

a month after they’re born. But other Arctic animals

mix things up, changing their fur color to blend in with

winter snow or summer plants. Check out how these

critters survive in style.

HOW CHANGING COLOR HELPS

SOME ARCTIC ANIMALS SURVIVE

BY JOE LEVIT

ANIMAL: SNOWSHOE HARE

HABITAT: Northern forests

DRESSED

WEATHER

FOR THE

»SUMMER

SUMMER

»

»WINTER

»WINTER

WHERE’S