#1 Get Lost!

10 Points

Freak us all out by disappearing into your surroundings. Post a pic and challenge others to find you. For inspiration check out stick insects, who do excellent impressions of errr ... sticks.  

Read the instructions

Categories:

See also

Screen Shot 2016 06 13 at 11.45.38 am

Go on a mish to spot camo’d animals in the wild at one of your local DOC sites!

What to do

Your mission is:

Disappear into a background using NZ nature-inspired disguise skills. Check out the notes for the tools list you need (above) and go get lost!
IMG 9794

1. SPOT A SPOT

Find a background to disappear into. It could be a park, the beach, or on a nature trail or a surface like a tree or lawn – any place you can magically merge with! Think like an animal or insect and think about how you might be able to blend in to help you hide.

Once you reckon you’ve got your background sussed, grab anything you need from the environment and then head home to whip up your disguise. 

Screen Shot 2016 06 02 at 12.00.00 pm

2. DISGUISE THE LIMIT

Time to sort your disguise out = whatever it takes to make you vanish!

Use coloured clothing, material, body paint, leaves, branches, mud, walnuts, manure* ...

*Really really think hard before deciding to use manure!

DSCF1021

3. PREPARE TO DISAPPEAR

Blending in can be as simple as covering a limb in loose leaf litter or as complicated as changing your colour like a chameleon.

Screen Shot 2016 06 02 at 12.05.13 pm

4. CAMO SHOW

Return to your spot with a few minutes to settle in, then stay still.

After an arranged time, get someone to come over and take a photo of you hiding in plain sight: if they can find you! 

DSCF0989

5. WHERE'S WALLY'S ARM?

Make sure you ARE actually there, as opposed to just pretending to be a camouflage master by not turning up … 

No harm in trying the pull the wool over the Wild Eyes' judges eyes though!

Screen Shot 2016 09 12 at 9.25.23 pm

6. CHALLENGE THE JUDGES!

If the only eyes you can see are wild eyes then that's OK!

Upload your camo-tastic photo to the Wild Eyes judgment panel to earn points towards your next level! 

DSCF1080

LEVEL UP

See how many friends you can manage to hide in one place, take a photo and post your own ‘Where’s Wally’ photo.

How many people can you see here?

DSCF1047

TOP TIPS

1. It can take a lot of body paint to paint a body, so could keep it simple and focus on an arm, hand, face or leg.

2. If you’re too hard to find, start farting. (That way your seekers can use their sense of smell instead of sight to find you.)

What's happening?

AOTEAROA CAMO EXPERTS

colin miskelly

– Camopo kākāpō!                       (c)Colin Miskelly NZ Birds Online

All animals and plants have specific adaptations that help them survive in the place they live (e.g. a kiwi has nostrils at the end of its beak for sniffing out grubs from the soil). Camouflage is like an animals’ built-in disguise kit.

For example, the night parrot kākāpō has mossy green feathers that are the same colour as the mossy green bush,

As Kermie the kākāpō says: "it ain't easy to be seen when you're green!".

Secret sticks

There’s a good chance your garden is full of life that you’ve never seen!

Don’t feel bad, there’s a good reason for it: animals that are easy to find quickly become a predator’s next meal. Stick insects’ main predators are birds that hunt by sight, so they camouflage themselves by looking and behaving like… sticks!

And who wants to eat a stick? Nobody!! (Well, maybe dogs...)

800px Acanthoxyla prasina

– Prickly stick insect pretending to be a ... prickly stick!

EGG HUNT

Wrybill eggs 2 wiki commons2

– Spot the wrybill eggs!

We’ve got some birds here in Aotearoa who have set the bar pretty high for hiding. See if you can find the wrybill egg in the picture. Hard eh?

The camouflage is a sweet defence against airborne predators like kahu (hawks) and karearea (falcon), but unfortunately it’s not so great against introduced predators who hunt on the ground like rats, stoats, cats and dogs (and motorbikes...).

AOTEAROA CAMO EXPERTS #2

1024px NZ grasshopper

– Heard but not seen: you learn fast grasshopper!

WHO SEES WHO?

Camouflage works for both sides in the battle for survival. Prey animals use it to avoid getting eaten, while at the same time predators use it to keep from being seen by prey until it's too late. Which makes you wonder if most of the time nobody sees anything?! Check out this gallery of dodgy creatures and see if you can you spot nature's best blenders.

Inspiration

BECOME A CHAMELEON

Artist Johannes Stoetter is world famous for using body paint to create amazing animal creations, turning human into chameleons and frogs.

He's so good he was the 2012 Bodypainting World Champion!

SOMEBODY I USED TO SEE

NZ singer-guitarist Kimbra and her singing partner Gotye got inspired by camouflage in this choice-as music video.

THE INVISIBLE MAN

Liu Bolin is a Chinese artist known for immersing himself in environments, earning him the nickname 'The Invisible Man.' Dutch Artist Desiree Palmen is so good at camo she might be called the 'Invisible Woman'. Can you beat their brilliant blending?
Liu Bolin 6

– Hiding in plain supermarket sight

EYES IN THE SKY

800px NZ Red Admiral Vanessa gonerilla 4

– Kahukura scary eyes

Some animals try reverse psychology to trick other animals into thinking that they're tougher than they are (like the mouse tricking the Gruffalo!).

The kahukura (red admiral) butterfly's wings aren't just for looking pretty. Lepidopterists (aka butterfly scientists) reckon that they have evolved spots that look like like eyes to scare off predators, who are buzzed out by the dancing monster with many eyes!

Kind of like nature's version of the pūkana (wide eyes) in the haka! 

TAKING IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

Get inspired by this body-painting 'best of' and see if you can make yourself into a melon and match them (maybe ask your mum or dad before shaving your hair off though!). 

What other members have done:

#1 Get Lost!

Hiding in the fejoa tree

Hiding in the fejoa tree

22290562 10207838935771126 1414655405 n
20161123 072539.7
Cinderpelt
can u find me????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
#1 Get Lost!

I am grass

I am grass

images.11
NZcena
Made using artafishal turf and other items this will allow you to blend into the grass for only $999999999999999999.999. This camo suit was made for a movie my class is made called quest for the moa.
#1 Get Lost!

Get lost tree

Get lost tree

Tas Camouflage
IMG 20170927 121226
Animal123
this is my wild eyes project for get lost i am a tree. can you find me?
#1 Get Lost!

camouflage

camouflage

Tatiana Camouflage
hambe157
I decided to do camouflage for the movie that me and the class are making.
#1 Get Lost!

Camoflage at Macdonalds black wall

Camoflage at Macdonalds black wall

IMG 1126
IMG 0123.5
203
I was looking for something black to diaper into. Then I came across a black wall. Me and my brother disappeared into it here is my picture
#1 Get Lost!

Blackout at McDonalds

Blackout at McDonalds

20170718 125036
20170717 161201.3
DinoBoy
I dressed up in my black clothes and then went outside to hunt for a black wall!I found one at McDonalds!
#1 Get Lost!

Where Am I

Where Am I

IMG 20170711 143804
#1 Get Lost!

Disappearing in the Whatitiri Track

1
TeamGareaGirls 30
By TeamGareaGirls

Disappearing in the Whatitiri Track

TeamGareaGirls
We took all sorts of camouflage gear with us but in the end it came down to picking a good spot and staying really still.
#1 Get Lost!

I'm invisible!

I'm invisible!

IMG 0134
minecraft
We disappeared in the bush! We face painted ourselves and hid. Can you see me?
#1 Get Lost!

White on white

1
popcorn poppers 10
By popcorn poppers

White on white

IMG 0059
popcorn poppers
We put paint on and then disappeared!
#1 Get Lost!

Going bush - can you see me

1
soccerchamp1489 20
By soccerchamp1489

Going bush - can you see me

soccerchamp1489
I dressed up in Dads camo top with his gumboots and went and hid in the backyard.
#1 Get Lost!

Can you see me?

Can you see me?

IMG 2226