Our guest speaker was Scott Shoeniger, who owns Hunter's Moon Taxidermy in Springtown. Scott has mounted some specimens for the Nature Center and I always learn something new when I visit his shop. He temporarily turned the Nature Center into a Taxidermist's Studio. He brought several mounts, and a car load of skins. He showed the children how he turns a tanned animal hide into artwork that captures the animal's energy. Perhaps because I am not very artistic, I am in awe of a taxidermist's ability to mesh art and science. They have to know so much about each animal that they mount, and yet they are also sculptors and painters.
The children sat on hides from a Bison, Grizzly Bear, Black Bear and White-tailed Deer. Then he went through the various hides and talked about where the animal lives, what it eats, and certain adaptations that help it live. This fit in perfectly with our theme for the week. In the photo on the right, Scott is demonstrating how a Woodcock flies and finds its food. It is a remarkable bird with some very interesting adaptations.
This is (just) one thing that I learned this morning. Jack Rabbits have black tips on the tops of their ears. These tips resemble eyes, so a predator approaching from behind thinks an animal is looking directly at it. (And you can't sneak up on something that is looking at you.)
If Scott's presentation wasn't exciting enough, we saw two fawns when we took our walk. The children froze and stayed quiet, and the fawns stood in the trail for a few minutes before heading into the brush. It was a pretty neat experience.
Our Nature Camp is over, and I have some wonderful people to thank. A big Thank You is extended to Virginia Derbyshire, Carole Mebus, Hannah Patterson, Bill Wallace and Scott Shoeniger. They made the camp awesome. We had a wonderful group of children this week who explored nature with enthusiasm, energy and sensitivity. (All photos by Carole Mebus.)
Carole took photos each day of our activities. She then spent her afternoon processing them so they could be posted with explanation on the Nature Center wall the next morning. When the children arrived each morning, they could show their parents what they had done the day before. Carole also emailed me photos so that I could use them in these blog entries. The photos are an awesome part of our camp.