MARTIN: Mimicry is an amazing phenomenon of nature, and it's everywhere.

Yeah, mimics!

Even in your own backyard, you can find butterflies that are mimics.

Hey, Chris, I found something!

It looks like we have two Monarch butterflies here.

They both look really similar.

One of these is a Monarch butterfly, which is poisonous, and birds do not like to eat it.

The other butterfly is not poisonous, and it's not a monarch.

Do you know which is which?

This is a Monarch, and this is a faker, a mimic.

The viceroy butterfly, looks like a Monarch butterfly so that birds won't try to eat it.

To see the difference between the two, you have to look closely.

The Monarch butterfly is bigger, the viceroy is smaller, and the viceroy has this extra black line that runs along the bottom of the wing.

But the viceroy looks enough like a Monarch to fool birds.

Another example of mimicry in action.

Mimicry is used by lots of different creatures, like wasps and bees that sting, and harmless flies that look like bees.

And don't forget snakes, like the venomous copperhead being mimicked by the harmless kingsnake.

Mimicry is an important defense in the creature world.

But sometimes it can be there and then disappear.

Like with the cheetah.

This cheetah cub is six months old, and he doesn't need mimicry anymore.

He's lost those black and white markings that gave him the disguise of a honey badger to fool predators.

Yeah, cheetah cubs only have the black and gray sides and the white stripe down the back until they're about two months old.

That's when young cheetah cubs hide in the grass while their mom goes out to hunt.

But when they get bigger, like this six-month-old, they don't have to hunt anymore.

They start joining mom 'cause they're bigger and stronger, and they can run.

So their defense changes from hiding and mimicry to running.

And running comes in pretty handy when you have lions around who want to steal your meal.

Don't get fooled by Mother Nature, 'cause mimics are all around us.

Mimics on the ground.

Mimics in the trees.

Mimics in the sky.

We'll see you on the creature trail.