TIP: Looks can be deceiving, so watch for movement or listen for giveaway sounds to find masters of disguise.

Hiking the hillside above the Dan Moller cabin, a small explosion almost at my feet spooked me so much I stumbled. A split second later (after losing about a week off my life), I recognized the pounding wingbeats of a grouse. It had been resting just a few feet away, but the complex pattern of brown, black, and white on its feathers had camouflaged it completely against the vegetation.

On a rare sunny day in Denali National Park, I was ambushed by surprising wildlife: butterflies fluttered and flashed everywhere — large yellow-and-black swallowtails, ghostly Arctic whites and black and orange alpines as dark as their own shadows.