Like many other animals, this squirrel is dark colored on its back, and light colored on its underside. Why?
Answer:
This is called countershading, and it is very common among both predators and prey animals. The top/back of the animal is dark colored, so a predator or prey animal that is above them is less likely to see them against the dark background. The bottom/front of the animal is light colored, helping them to hide from predators and/or prey that are below them.
In the case of the squirrel, a soaring hawk would see the brown squirrel against a brown tree branch or the ground. A cat on the ground would see the light underbelly against the light colored sky. In both cases, the squirrel is harder to see.
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