adventure

HOOOOOOOWLING!!

As we sat around the camp fire last night spinning the tale of the Ghost Tiger, a curious visitor came and sat down next to us. At first we were alarmed but as he told us his story we found him to be fascinating and we wanted to share his story with you!

I’m Cody, the Coyote. I live here in the woods next to Lake Salamander. I like to howl at night to let the other coyotes known I’m around. Many people think I’m scary, but I’m not. I’m a part of this habitat as much as are the birds, the squirrels and the skunks. There are many other critters here too and we all have our role. I am predator and a member of the canine family. I am often called clever and Native Americans told stories of my ancestors. We have adapted to life all over North America and I have cousins all in rural, suburban and urban habitats.

I have keen sense of smell and excellent eyesight! My large ears help me listen for threats and for prey. When I walk only my toes hit the ground. This helps me ambush my prey and hide from other animals. I do live with my family. I live with my female and I help her take care of our cubs in the den that we share.

I can run up to 40 mph and if you want to know where my territory is, just smell around- I pee around to mark it! I am more afraid of people than you think. I and the rest of my pack just want to live our lives along side all the other creatures of the forest. Next time you hear me hoooooowl at the moon, howl back and say hellooooooooo! We coyotes are pretty cool!

FIREFLIES!!

One of the best parts of being at camp is watching the fireflies at night while we sit around the camp fire. We love to count them and somehow it never works out- hehehe! We’re going to learn about these amazing beetles! We have a great firefly coloring sheet too! On Wednesday if you tweet, Facebook or Instagram us a picture of a firefly or fact that you learned about them, we’ll give you a firefly badge!

Firefly fun facts:

• Fireflies are beetles.
• Most of them have wings.
• They on every continent except the Antarctica and the Arctic circle.
• There are around 2,000 species of fireflies in the world.
• Fireflies get that famous glow from a special organ under their abdomen. They take oxygen in to that organ and  it produces the glow with no heat!
• Each species of firefly has their own pattern of flashes.
• These lights are used to find potential mates.
• These bioluminescent beetles can glow with yellow, red or green.
• Scientist think that fireflies use their glow to help warn predators that they taste bad.
• Fireflies are omnivores, eating worms as larva and nectar as adults.

We here at Camp E & E call fireflies, lightening bugs! It’s fun to gather them in a jar with holes poked in the lid to watch them glow for a bit and return them to the skies to find a mate. What do you call fireflies in your neck of the woods?