What is a key camouflage feature of newborn whitetail fawns?
Answer
They are covered in white spots blending with dappled light.
Newborn whitetail fawns are incredibly vulnerable during their first few weeks of life, necessitating supreme camouflage to avoid detection while their mothers are away feeding. A crucial adaptation for this protection is their coat pattern. Fawns are born covered in distinct white spots scattered across their bodies. This spotting mimics the appearance of dappled sunlight filtering through the forest canopy onto the leaf litter of the forest floor, providing excellent disruptive coloration that hides them effectively while they remain stationary, as is their behavior for the initial weeks.
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