Week 7 was a bang with excursions on the preserve and all around Safari World!

Zebra--We took the van out on a preserve tour where we looked at all the animals, and paid special attention to the Zebras. It is easy to think they are just horses with stripes, but when you pay close attention you can see the different muscle and bone structure. They are feisty little animals and I'd hate to meet one face to face. They can inflict a lot of damage and one doesn't need to provoke them. They pick on their neighbors and are a big reason why the baby giraffe is kept separate. Even Bloom, the baby rhino, had to wait a while before being released for fear it would be beat up. At LCS we have an interesting way of keeping a record of the zebra. Each zebra's stripe is original, like a human fingerprint. We use a digital camera to keep record, of which zebra is which. It cuts down on the human interaction with the zebra and is highly effective.

Ostrich-- Today was our second time out on the preserve. We took the bus and along with us was Group 1 (age 6). It was really neat to see the excitement on the little ones' face, and a great opportunity for the older campers to teach the younger. We stopped and observed the Ostrich and learned how they were nearly all killed off due to their feathers. It was high fashion to wear ostrich feathers and they slaughtered them for the fashion industry. Today their numbers are strong. The males have black feathers and the females are smaller and have brown feathers, with both having two powerful legs.

Caiman-- Craig, a keeper at LCS, met with Group 7 at the Caiman exhibit. To most of us the caiman looks like a baby alligator, only it is full grown. They have many of the same features and habits of their larger relative. They are native to the Caiman Islands, but were brought to the US to be used as pets. However as these "pets" grew up, their owners soon learned they were not suitable as a pet. They were released into the wild, and now have a large population and are seen as native to the South Florida area.

Bird Keeper--We started our day off by making enrichments for the birds. We filled toilet paper tubes with monkey crunch and raisins. Then we colored them with non-toxic markers. We brought our treats to the Nursery where we met with a bird keeper. She told us what her day involved and what it takes to be a keeper. The she brought out some baby birds. The first we saw was a 1 month old Blue and Gold Macaw. The feathers were just now starting to grow in and there were a lot of tiny, furry looking feathers. Then she brought out a 3 month old Scarlet Macaw. It is amazing how much they grown in just a couple of months. The feathers were completely grown out and he looked gorgeous!

Rainforest-- On rainforest day we met some of the Education staff members, who introduced us to some animals of the Rainforest. The first we saw was Skittles, a blue front Amazon parrot. We learned how he feathers act as a camouflage in the treetops of South America. Then they brought out a sloth. It was really cool because most of us had never seen one in person. He was a little shy, but eventually he came out. He just kind of kicked back and relaxed as we learned about the features the sloth has to help him survive in the rainforest. Later in the day we made rain sticks, but fill paper towel tubes with stones, grain, and other objects. Then we decorated them with beads and markers.