Predator and prey are both essential in maintaining healthy ecosystems. Predators help control the population of grazing animals and they are also key in the process of natural selection, which drives evolution. Animals and plants evolved to have various defense mechanisms to protect them from predators. On our nature walks we took note of trees that use sap as a sticky defense against bugs and we checked out the stripes on a chipmunk which help it camouflage from predatory birds.
This week at Nature Camp we tip-toed and pounced along trails discovering the world of Stealth & Camouflage. Campers had fun playing Fire Tenders where one camper is blind folded protecting the treasure beneath their feet by listening for sounds and pointing at their opponent who is trying to be super stealthy and steal the treasure. This game is great to show campers how important hearing and stealth movements are for the survival of many animals. To demonstrate how pack animals stay together we played the game Sound Mates where blindfolded pairs of campers try to find each other in a large group by calling out a sound they agreed upon before hand. Wolves use howls as a way to keep the pack together as they can become separated while searching for food.
As always we had tons of fun crafting this week! Some crafts included making our own paper plate bird nests using twigs and moss we found on our nature walk, creating snake/caterpillars out of paper chains, crafting habitats in paper bags for felt creatures and creating our own tic-tac-toe game pieces by painting rocks and then making a board to play on!
We also saw a couple of pretty cool creatures this week. On two different nature walks we spotted an owl! We feel pretty lucky to have encountered this night dwelling creature and were mesmerized by it’s huge wing span. One day we also made good friends with Mr. Garter Snake who even let a few of the campers hold him for closer inspection.
NEXT WEEK AT WHISTLER NATURE CAMP WE’RE DIVING BACK INTO AQUATIC ADVENTURES
Come join us as we further explore the world of wetlands!
We will be visiting Lost Lake to see the incredible Western toad migration where thousands and thousands of toadlets move from the water into the forest.
Camp can be booked by the week or for individual camp days until 3pm the day prior.
For more info or to register visit our camp page.
