Super Hiders (Ptarmigan) 

Did You Know? Ptarmigan have a super hiding power. It’s almost like they can be invisible. They get two sets of feathers every year: a brown set for summer and a white set for winter. That way, they can be camouflaged year-round. The super hiding power of their feathers helps to keep them from being eaten by predators. 

With their super hiding powers, you may hear ptarmigan before you see them. One of this super power’s weaknesses is that it can be very talkative when it’s with ptarmigan friends. They blow their own cover! Ptarmigan change color when they sense the shorter days and colder temperatures of winter coming. The ptarmigan’s invisibility cloak of white feathers won’t help it if it rains in winter instead of snows. The ground will be brown and the ptarmigan will have turned white. That makes it easy for one of their arch enemy predators to find them! Like the super reaper pika, ptarmigan have lived so long in the cold that their bodies can’t get rid of heat when it gets too hot. Ptarmigan need snow banks to keep cool by and little trickles of water nearby throughout the summer. Protected places like Glacier National Park are providing clues to the ability of animals like the super hider ptarmigan to change with a changing climate.

Super Seekers (Weasel) 

Did You Know? Weasels are super seekers. Their fur changes from brown in the summer to white in the winter, so they blend in with the background all year long. Their long, sleek bodies are low to the ground, allowing them to sneak up on prey long before being seen. Small mammals and birds need to be on the alert to avoid these super seekers.  

This super power’s weakness, like the ptarmigan’s, may be to change color and be white when it hasn’t yet snowed. Then they would also be more visible to other predators looking to eat them. That would be a good thing for the other predator! For the weasel, their super seeking power wouldn’t work as well if they weren’t camouflaged. It would be a lot harder to sneak up on its prey.