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Don't forget to go looking for nature's real-life Pokemon

Appreciate the wildlife that look a bit like the cute creatures in Pokemon Go with these side-by-side comparisons from the US Fish & Wildlife service.

Bonnie Burton
Journalist Bonnie Burton writes about movies, TV shows, comics, science and robots. She is the author of the books Live or Die: Survival Hacks, Wizarding World: Movie Magic Amazing Artifacts, The Star Wars Craft Book, Girls Against Girls, Draw Star Wars, Planets in Peril and more! E-mail Bonnie.
Bonnie Burton
2 min read
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Oddly enough, the real-life red fox and the Eevee in Pokemon Go look like twins.

USFWS

With non-stop media coverage of the Pokemon Go mobile game, the folks at US Fish & Wildlife, or USFW, are hoping to get people excited about finding real-world animals, insects and plants that look a lot like their cute gaming counterparts.

"Recently a number of digital wildlife called Pokemon have been spotted at many of our national wildlife refuges, fish hatcheries and wetlands, visible only through an appropriately configured smartphone," USFW posted on its blog Thursday.

"In an effort to provide a field guide of sorts for people interested in catching these elusive creatures, we also wanted to introduce you to some of their real counterparts," USFW added. "As people come to these places looking for digital wildlife, be on the lookout for these real world species too."

The featured creatures include the adorable Spicebush Swallowtail Caterpillar, which looks a lot like the Caterpie and also has eyespots it uses as a defense mechanism to deter predators.

Then there's the common tadpole that shares similar attributes with the Pokemon Poliwag, including hind legs and bulbous eyes.

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Bellsprout in Pokemon Go look too cute to be like their carnivorous cousins, the Pitcher Plant.

USFWS

Not all actual creatures that inspire Pokemon Go searches are safe to sneak up on. Case in point, the Western Diamondback Rattlesnake. The purple Ekans in Pokemon Go might look harmless enough to collect, but if you happen upon a rattlesnake, USFW recommend watching your step since these venomous snakes don't appreciate humans stomping around their grassy habitats.

Animals, reptiles and insects aren't the only real-life cousins of Pokemon creatures. The Bellsprout character looks an awful lot like carnivorous pitcher plants, minus the beady eyeballs of course.

So the next time you're wandering around a park or in the woods looking for elusive Pokemon characters, be sure to take a snapshot of the real creatures that can be seen without needing an app.