Camp Critters!!

[Skater Bubbles]

I Was Just Wondering How Bad Bugs And Mice And Stuff Were At Your Camps?

[speedx5xracer]

Not that bad duriing the summer our worst pest are lice, and the bear and this one time one of my friends was bit by a squirell

[Skater Bubbles]

HA ya sometimes we have crazy squirells too! We get mice in the cabins depending on how bad the girls are about keeping food in the bunks. We really don't have too many bugs, I think I only got bites like 3 times last summer. We have lizards and hornytoads but they don't bug anybody! We have also had a few bats in the cabins!

[CAMPFRIEND]

You need to come to the south. We have all kinds of fun snakes and other fun things. Ticks are the worst!

[Dave]

Actually our camp isn't bad when it comes to bugs! Before I started working there I thought it would be since it's pretty much in the woods, but the only bugs I see a lot are ants. That's about it. Also, there aren't any mosquitoes there either, which was also a surprise for me considering there's a big lake right at the camp.

[camper]

we mostly just have a lot of gnats on a regular basis. but we have skunks mostly at night, and sometimes we see mice around. also wild turkeys every once in awhile.

[Indigo]

We get lots of mosquitoes and ticks and such... Spiders, of course, which makes the girls scream, and plenty of other strange bugs (we found a massive unicorn beetle this summer)... Raccoons are always a problem... The deer and turkies don't cause trouble unless they scare horses on a trail. We did have a skunk problem this year, which we've never had before! And we've got wild dogs and cats, not to mention various frogs, toads, lizards, snakes, and lake-creatures.

[rockinsmiles]

Lots and lots of bugs. I got so many bites this summer...it was sad. Thankfuly the biting bugs dont come in the cabin too often...those are just spiders and crickets which make the girls freak. we have a few snakes but i never saw any. just heard from the campers and other staff. and about a zillion frogs and skenks. the campers love those. we didnt have any mice trouble this year besides in the staff lounge. i opened one of the drawers to put a spoon in and thought the mouse was fake at first. then it moved and freaked me out :D we also had a bear sighting and an occasional deer (though i never saw any with campers). we do have a bever pond but ive never seen any beavers there so i dunno if we still have some. and then one of our igaunas escaped into the woods. more than likely dead now but it was an interesting thought to be walking around the lake and then if we spotted it. oh yeah and we also had a bunch of turtles.

[camper]

oh yeah i forgot the deer tend to be abundant at the beginning of camp before they realize that people are around! whenever we drive the person in the front is on DP which stands for deer patrol haha.

[camplover86]

We have a lot of ticks. But mostly Racoons are a big problem... and deer!

[Flukie]

So many ticks this summer! We ended up spraying the flag circle and picnic tables for them. We also had a call from a staff member for a "rabid chipmunk" - even she was laughing about it by the end. "Well, it was behaving eratically!" I had the demonic squirrells that were ticked I moved into their tent. They spent the first few nights running back and forth under the tent, panicking that I was in there. After that, they sat on the edges of the tent, ran through it, and ran over the top of it. Gah! So obnoxious. We actually had only one skunk and one racoon incident this year - the camp I'm at is known for problems with them!

[KiwiCRB]

Oh the stories about animals... I think the worst was the first day of my last session last year. The parents of my campers were going with their daughters to the units. I was the last one to get there and i see the dads and brothers that were there looking at something. I go over and found out the parents found the first rattle snake of the season... it was pretty big too. I called the ranger but while i was inside they lost it and it got away. I was kind of scared to walk around that area the rest of the summer. Another time about 6 years ago i was taking a shower in that same unit and a snake that was about 4 or 5 feet long came in the shower... it was just a grass snake but still scary enough. Last summer I was trying to pick one up and it bit me... oops.... didn't tell the camp director about that one. There were tons of snake sightings this summer... only one other rattler though.
One time me and another counselor were moving our stuff between sessions and we saw a flock of baby turkeys, seeing as how there were no campers around we decided to see how close we could get. Well, the adult turkeys didn't like that too much so they flew up in the trees and tried to dive bomb us... wow... it was pretty scary.
Other than snakes we have tons of turkeys, deer, a few armadillos, raccoons, porcupines, the occasional bobcat, and of course the ranger's dog, Zoe.
As for bugs there are millions of mosquitoes. Bees and wasps like to congregate at the pool since it's the only water around, it's really no good because we have a lot of stings. Blister bugs are pretty bad... i got bit by one this summer and had to go to the emergency room because my ankle was probably double the size it should be.
I could share a bunch more stories about animals but this post is pretty long so i think i'll stop there.

[Dave]

Wow Kiwi. You have a ton of different animals at your camp! What fun that must be. :P

[CAMPFRIEND]

I love snakes. And watching all of my boys run after them!! Poor snake.

[Skater Bubbles]

Yah, rattle snakes are no fun, we try to keep the fact that we have them pretty hush at my camp, becuase they aren't seen too often, but when they are parents freak!

[martha27]

umm lets see, snakes, bats, mice...... plus all the bugs!!

[Flower]

We have tons of mosquitos, especially around the archery range. I'm always bitten up from that, along with some ticks and the other normal insects. We also have chipmunks, squirrels, mice, loons, spiders, snakes (just the normal nonpoisionous ones in camp), and bats. There are deer and moose in the area, but they normally won't come near us. Got to watch for them when you're driving though. I've never seen one of the moose. I'd like to, just not in front of a car.

[CAMPFRIEND]

I love to see campers run from big bugs and spiders..

[Dave]

I love to see campers run from big bugs and spiders..
:laughing: I agree with you! I remember one time last summer there was this huge cricket just sitting near where our bunk was. One of the other counselors in the bunk saw it as well as me. We called one of our campers over (who we weren't best friends with, lets say). We showed him and he actually looked facinated. We then stomped on the ground next to the cricket and it jumped right at him. He got so scared! He jumped, screamed, and ran. I was holding in my laugh. He wasn't mad at us though, which was good. He just wanted us to get rid of the cricket. That was so funny though! :D

[CAMPFRIEND]

You know that you have to lookout for the killer crickets!

[who_stole_my_loofa]

We have a bat problem at my camp. When food is around we get racoons. There are lots of other random animals and bugs but they pretty much leave us alone- the worst are the bats though cause when they get inside buildings they like fly around and scare people- and they like carry disease. boo to bats

Loofa

[Dave]

We've had bats also! I remember we had one in the 6-year-old boys changing room last summer. That wasn't fun. ;)

[crbtigger]

Oh the stories about animals... I think the worst was the first day of my last session last year. The parents of my campers were going with their daughters to the units. I was the last one to get there and i see the dads and brothers that were there looking at something. I go over and found out the parents found the first rattle snake of the season... it was pretty big too. I called the ranger but while i was inside they lost it and it got away. I was kind of scared to walk around that area the rest of the summer. Another time about 6 years ago i was taking a shower in that same unit and a snake that was about 4 or 5 feet long came in the shower... it was just a grass snake but still scary enough. Last summer I was trying to pick one up and it bit me... oops.... didn't tell the camp director about that one. There were tons of snake sightings this summer... only one other rattler though.
One time me and another counselor were moving our stuff between sessions and we saw a flock of baby turkeys, seeing as how there were no campers around we decided to see how close we could get. Well, the adult turkeys didn't like that too much so they flew up in the trees and tried to dive bomb us... wow... it was pretty scary.
Other than snakes we have tons of turkeys, deer, a few armadillos, raccoons, porcupines, the occasional bobcat, and of course the ranger's dog, Zoe.
As for bugs there are millions of mosquitoes. Bees and wasps like to congregate at the pool since it's the only water around, it's really no good because we have a lot of stings. Blister bugs are pretty bad... i got bit by one this summer and had to go to the emergency room because my ankle was probably double the size it should be.
I could share a bunch more stories about animals but this post is pretty long so i think i'll stop there.



Yeah I would have to agree with Kiwi, since we work at the same camp. I think my favorite thing is to play with the trantulas, catch them in the big bug box I have in the camp office and let the girls look at them and then let them go.

The worst critter incident for me would have to be when I stepped on a Scorpin. OMG that was pretty much the worst pain EVER. Stung me right on the tender part of the bottom of my 3rd toe. That really really hurt. That was last year and this summer our director got stung by a scorpin on her finger in our office. I have also caught the occacional centepide. Those are fun to look at in the big bug box.

And I will never forget Kiwi's blister bug bite and neither will she cause she took a picture of it in the doctors office. LOL

[Sparkes]

I showered with a frog this summer!

And each bunk had it's own mouse - we had three of them. Some of the other bunks had bats, birds, and there were a couple of black bears that payed camp a visit one day.

[CAMPFRIEND]

I showered with a frog this summer!

And each bunk had it's own mouse - we had three of them. Some of the other bunks had bats, birds, and there were a couple of black bears that payed camp a visit one day.

Do you have food in you cabins? Is that why you have mice.

[Sparkes]

Yeah, on visiting day all our parents loaded our kids down with food - and I mean duffle bags full of it (like we don't feed them all summer!) We went through everyones stuff, but the kids are pretty creative at hiding things. They were hauling out food till the last day of camp. HIding them in the toliet tank, and in bags that had been put away at the begining of summer. They're quite skilled at it!

[Lilbit88]

One summer my cabin had a mouse...and we named him Fruitcake...the poor counselor was just plain terrified. She almost had to move to the top bunk....we got him out..eventually. No harm done..after that no food was allowed in the cabin.

[CAMPFRIEND]

Yeah, on visiting day all our parents loaded our kids down with food - and I mean duffle bags full of it (like we don't feed them all summer!) We went through everyones stuff, but the kids are pretty creative at hiding things. They were hauling out food till the last day of camp. HIding them in the toliet tank, and in bags that had been put away at the begining of summer. They're quite skilled at it!

I used to things like that when I was a camper! It's crazy to see how far campers will go. The worst part is we have the same problems with counselors!

[Fallen]

lots of bugs, spiders, javalinas,lizards,squarrels and who knows what else.

[EchoLaker]

We've definately had squirrels and chipmunks this summer.

Unfortunately a skunk decided to pay a visit and stayed under one of the bunks on girls village, according to the OD staff, it was occasionally caught walking the bunkline before going to hide (and smell out) another bunk.

[camper]

we see skunks all the time at night. its ridiculously gross and definitely scary thinking about being sprayed by one.

[Indigo]

We never saw any skunks until last summer, and then some units saw them every night! I wonder what happened to make the skunks move in on us! I don't think anyone was sprayed, though.

My first college roommate got sprayed by a skunk... The smell alone woke me up when she came in.

[nimahan]

Do you ever get rats...? I can deal with mice and other small rodents, but not rats.

I've never seen racoon, procupines, skunks, or any wild snakes in my life. Do I have anything to worry about?

[camper]

nimahan- every once in awhile there are rats but its a rare occurance and the kids are usually just as scared as you are. seeing animals in the bunk tends to turn into a big joke...everyone screams b/c they're scared and then ends up on the floor hysterically laughing once the animal is out of the bunk.

i've never seen a porcupine at my camp, but there are definitely raccoons and skunks, and the occasional snake by the lake. the raccoons and skunks you'll see at night, and the snakes are mostly in the grass so if you walk on paths at your camp you probably won't see them very often. seeing animals is really nothing to be worried about, usually it becomes very funny!

the best is having a bird or a bat in the bunk b/c it flies around, the kids shriek, you end up shrieking, and everyone ends up under their covers hahaha. you'll see what i mean when you're in that situation.

a good way to take the scary-ness away for the kids is to name the animal. we always do that.

[CAMPFRIEND]

Do you ever get rats...? I can deal with mice and other small rodents, but not rats.

I've never seen racoon, procupines, skunks, or any wild snakes in my life. Do I have anything to worry about?

Pending on what part of the country you work in will tell what kind of things you will find!

[nimahan]

nimahan- every once in awhile there are rats but its a rare occurance and the kids are usually just as scared as you are. seeing animals in the bunk tends to turn into a big joke...everyone screams b/c they're scared and then ends up on the floor hysterically laughing once the animal is out of the bunk.

i've never seen a porcupine at my camp, but there are definitely raccoons and skunks, and the occasional snake by the lake. the raccoons and skunks you'll see at night, and the snakes are mostly in the grass so if you walk on paths at your camp you probably won't see them very often. seeing animals is really nothing to be worried about, usually it becomes very funny!

the best is having a bird or a bat in the bunk b/c it flies around, the kids shriek, you end up shrieking, and everyone ends up under their covers hahaha. you'll see what i mean when you're in that situation.

a good way to take the scary-ness away for the kids is to name the animal. we always do that.


I'm not scared as such lol, I thought it'd be pretty cool seeing them. Just don't want to push my luck, get too close and end up regretting it.:o

[who_stole_my_loofa]

oh i forgot to mention we also have several fox runs around camp. it's really cool but sometimes the kids get scared. everyone knows about the one by the theatre at 3 in the afternoon- so we make sure that if the kids are around they are quiet and out of the way- we don't want to disturb nature but its really cool to observe it! the only time the fox runs are scary is when youre on a campout-- there are a few fox runs really late at night up there and one kid always notices, screams, and wakes evreyone up. boo.

fallen- whats a javalina?

[Dave]

I remember seeing a huge praying mantis (probably about 7 inches) walking up a wooden beam two summers ago. The kids went nuts over that. They thought it was so cool. One kid tried to throw rocks at it, but he obviously got in trouble for that since that's not allowed.

There was also a bat in one of the changing rooms last summer. It was up high so it wasn't too bad, but boy did the kids get scared!

[Fleur]

My first year counselling at an overnight camp, someone left our cabin door open when we went to breakfast. When we came back, we found a chipmunk sitting in one girl's shoe. When chasing it out wasn't working, my co-counsellor and I sent our girls to their first activity, got some bread from the kitchen staff, and then made a trail of bread pieces from the chipmunk to the door. We missed part of first period, but we got the chipmunk to come out :)

[camper]

ummm dave i had a praying mantis in my hair last summer. scariest thing ever. i was talking to a camper and all the sudden she stops mid sentence and starts going "omg, omg, omg" and i'm like "WHATT???" and she was like "you have the hugest bug i've ever seen in your hair" so both of us start screaming, which got everyone else screaming, and i had to have another counselor get it out. by the time we got it out the other counselor and i couldn't stop laughing...but it was really freaky! they're so weird looking!

[Dave]

ummm dave i had a praying mantis in my hair last summer. scariest thing ever. i was talking to a camper and all the sudden she stops mid sentence and starts going "omg, omg, omg" and i'm like "WHATT???" and she was like "you have the hugest bug i've ever seen in your hair" so both of us start screaming, which got everyone else screaming, and i had to have another counselor get it out. by the time we got it out the other counselor and i couldn't stop laughing...but it was really freaky! they're so weird looking!
Wow I can only imagine how you must've felt. I'm not afraid of bugs, but I know if one was sitting on me I'd get freaked out! :P

[runrachrunn]

I'm surprised that I've read 5 pages and no one has said anything about leeches in the lake! I was the first camper (as far as I know) to get bit by a leech at camp... Ugly looking thing it is, too.

[Dave]

I don't think we've ever had leech problems at our camp. Not that I know of anyway.

[KiwiCRB]

We don't have any natural water to have leeches in lol.

[camper]

i've never encountered a leech at camp.

[speedx5xracer]

yea in my 9 years at the same camp i saw 1 leech and that was when we were on a hike and my cousin decided to go swimming in a lake at the end of the hike.

[who_stole_my_loofa]

We definitely do not have leeches. That is so uber gross! lol

[runrachrunn]

We definitely do not have leeches. That is so uber gross! lol
Aren't you glad I mentioned it :p

[campnerd99]

We've had all kinds of critters, making for an abundance of good camp stories. The best of which come from squirells, snakes, spiders and the year we had a wild turkey.
There's also the usual herds of mosquitos.

[CAMPFRIEND]

Oh the joys of leeches! One summer we had a big problem with them. How fun to explain to a 7 year old what it is.

How about ticks? We have those as well. I just never think about them!