Day Camp started off with a bang as we learned about different animals and parts of the world! Check below for some camper photos!

Monkey-- Wow, what a way to start off the 2000 Season of Safari Day Camp! Our day started off with making enrichments for the squirrel monkeys. Enrichments are toys and food that are given the monkeys to give them something to do. Monkeys are very intelligent animals and the enrichments help keep their minds and bodies active. What we made was a treat to watch and a treat for the monkeys. First we took a shallow bowl and filled it half way with flour. Then we put in mealworms, banana slices, and kiwi. Finally we covered it up. When the treat was brought out to the monkeys they went scourging in the flour to find their favorites. Next then we knew flour was all over the place! The monkeys were so cute and we visited them several times during the week just to make sure they were "doing all right"!

Spoonbill-- The spoonbill is an animal native to Florida. The spoonbills we have at LCS were injured in the wild and cannot be released back into the wild. Every year baby spoonbills are born here and released. We had the opportunity to go into their enclosed area and put together their food for the day. We also cleaned off some of the cement pads where the food is set. After that was taken care of we all hunted for the best feather. We all got a nice collection. Then we headed over to the petting zoo and looked at some fertilized chicken eggs. We held the eggs up to a bright light and were actually able to see the baby chick inside. This process is called egg candeling. We actually saw some of the chicks moving!

Water Monitor-- Craig, a Reptile Keeper, met the group outside the Water Monitors cage. Along with him he brought a Dumeral Monitor. As a group we talked about the environment that best suits a monitor and what is essential in creating a home for them. Everyone had lots of questions ranging from food to their long nails, to all of which we got our answers. Then we headed back to the KOA and made models of our own monitor enclosures complete with water motes and logs for them to rest on!

Animal Theater--Today we got to be the Star of the Show! In the morning we learned about some of the animals in the Education Department. Then we took part in one of the educational shows at the park. Each camper was given a couple of lines to read to the audience, teaching them about the animals we had just learned about. Everyone did a great job and the show was a great hit!

South America Day--On South America Day we took a drive through the preserve and looked at all the animals from South America. We also took a look at the animals in the walk-through area that come from South America. It is amazing how many we found. The rainforest alone has thousands of animals!