Burying Beetle Eating a Mouse – September 10, 2008

As I’m walking home I spot the carcass of a mouse. It is moving slightly. I take a closer look and I spy two beetles(hairy burying beetles I presume) digging underneath the mouse. I realize that this is the same insect that I had observed on July 17, 2008. Golden Nature Guide (p112)states that there have been reports that some of the larger of these beetles …”dig under the carcass o f a small animal till it falls into the hole and is actually buried to serve as food for the larvae…” Very interesting.

Walnut Remains from Flying Squirrel #2 – April 11 2008

Here in the old stump a flying squirrel left the shell of a black walnut. These squirrels eat 4 small holes in the walnut.

Rabbit & Squirrel Tracks in Snow – March 28 2008

Rabbit tracks look like a “Y”.

Squirrel tracks look like a “W”

 

Frieda, the camp deer – March 26, 2008

Here is the deer that has been hanging out at camp this winter. It has even been play with one of the camp dogs.

Why did the Turkey Vulture Cross the Road? – March 25, 2008

On our way back from helping teach the homeschool program at Camp Amigo , my assistant finds a turkey vulture and a bird of prey(immature redtail hawk?) feasting on this road kill rabbit. We turn around to see if we can get a picture and the hawk takes off. But we get a few pictures of the turkey vulture.

Walnut Eaten by Red Squirrel – March 16, 2008

Walnut Eaten by Red Squirrel, originally uploaded by Camp Naturalist.

Here is a walnut that has been eaten by a red squirrel. Red squirrels tend to eat walnuts from the top down.

Fox squirrels(& gray squirrels) tend to gnaw two openings one on each side.

Flying squirrels chew 4 oval hole in the walnut to get the meat out.

Squirrel Tracks in the snow – Feb 5, 2008

Squirrel Tracks in the snow, originally uploaded by Camp Naturalist.

Squirrel tracks look like a “W”. Their front feet touch first then their back feet come on the outside the land in front. Rabbit tracks look are similar except they look like the letter”Y”.

Bird nest being used by a squirrel – October 28, 2007

IMG_1914, originally uploaded by Camp Naturalist.

Here on Turtle Hill I see this bird’s nest being used by a squirrel I presume(or maybe a mouse??)

Bat in the Nature Center Office – July 27, 2007

IMG_1130, originally uploaded by Camp Naturalist.

I look up from my computer and see some breathing brown fur on my window sill. At first I think it’s a mouse. I take it outside and let some kids take a look at it and then it flys away.

Nature Adventure Camp 2007

Presentation 1, originally uploaded by Camp Naturalist.

What a blast! The campers learned so much!

Here’s the audio(mp3) of what the kids liked best about nature camp 2007(the survival game was obviously a big hit). Kid’s Nature Camp 2007 Audio Evaluation (mp3)
Here’s a list of some of the many things that we did:

Get to know you games
Camping out
Fishing
Canoeing
Fire Kites
Bug Suckers
Bird Calls
Bird Adaptations
Water Slide
Archery
Swimming
Swamp Hike
Campfire Songs
Gift of Nature, God, Ourselves, & History