Week 4

Antelope--Today was our day to go out on the preserve. It was the campers' job to find all the different types of antelope there on the preserve. We were amazed at all the types. While there we got a chance to see all the other animals including a great look at the baby Rhino, Bloom! Too cute.

Lory-- Everyone was really looking forward to this day! All of the Group 7 campers were returnees, which means everyone has visited the Lorys, and we all love them! Today we got the chance to actually feed them the nectar. The day started with us meeting Melissa, a Bird Keeper, who showed us their home at night. Then we released them. Trust me it was quite the sight seeing all 28 of the birds flying, wings stretched out. Then we helped feed them a combination of nectar and vitamins. We spend about an hour playing with the birds. We visited them several times later on in the week, just to say "Hi"!

Skink--Erin, an education assistant, met us in the Animal Theater with Climber, a Solomon Island Skink. She taught us lots of neat facts about the skink. Climber was shedding at the time and we learned it was because he needs a new skin to help him grow larger. We also thought his nails were awesome! They actually looked like they were painted silver! When we got back to the KOA we played Capture the Skink with our two life-like skinks, Stinky and Blink. That day forth Stinky and Blink are favorites among Safari Day Campers...young and old!

Reptile Keeper--The Reptile Keeper met us in the walk-through area and took us behind the scenes where we picked up some necessary tools for the day. Today our job was to help clean out the cages, give the animals fresh water, and turn on the exhibits. Rhonda, Education Coordinator, joing us and took our individual photos with a Ball Python. He was so cute! Then Terry Wolf came and joined us with a friend of his, Elizabeth. She is a Burmese Python and is huge, weighing around 250 lbs. We all carried her out to a grassy field where we got to observe and ask questions. We also got an awesome group photo taken of use with her! Check it out! This was definitely one of the best moments of the summer thus far.

Insects--Insect Day was a lot of fun, and also sad. It was the last day with everyone and some of us had been there for a couple of weeks. But we made the most of it by going on an insect walk. This turned out to be a lot of fun! At first all we saw were ants, but then as we looked closer we saw lost of insects we rarely notice. Along with us we brought our bug cages with built in magnifying glasses. After studying some cool specimens, we set the bugs free. For our craft that day, we reproduced some of the insects we saw with modeling clay, pen and paper, and Styrofoam. It was a really cool day with creepy crawlies!