Fall is in the air, and we hope you are having a fantastic time finding the PURRfect costumes for yourself and your FURever friends. As the days get colder, we find ourselves missing summer’s warmth. If you can relate, we hope this Summer Camp retrospective warms your heart and brightens your day!
Why Summer Camp?
At the Humane Society of Macomb, we love animals and want to share that love with generations to come! Research has shown that humane education develops the steps necessary for empathy; interacting with animals can help children recognize human and animal emotions, share emotions, and regulate emotions to connect positively with others.
Our Summer Camp takes place in July and is open to all children ages five through eleven. This camp experience was full of PAWesome games, crafts, education, and—of course—exciting animal interactions. Children who attended our camp learned about wildlife and interacted with the adoptable animals in our shelter.
Snakes, Opossums, and Turtles—Oh My!
Campers got to meet a variety of slithering and crawling wildlife. Our friends at The Reptarium visited and spoke multiple times, bringing a menagerie of critters, including snakes, lizards, spiders, turtles, and skinks! During one of their presentations, Terrance the Tegu immediately insisted on making his escape to hang out with the campers. The kids loved his antics!
Sarah Matuzak, an incredible presenter from Ellymayfly Rehabilitation and Rescue, brought injured tortoises and turtles, along with snakes, lizards, and bugs. In addition, she introduced campers to a leucistic opossum named Lucy.
Speaking of opossums, Burgess-Shadbush Nature Center brought their blind Opossum named Lilly, and they shared about her.
Fun Animal Fact!
There is a difference between leucism and albinism. An albino animal completely lacks melanin, which gives color to its fur, feathers, eyes, and skin. In contrast, a leucistic animal will lack some coloration, but its eye color is unaffected.
Touring the Barns
Did you know that farm animals also call the Humane Society of Macomb home? Campers had the opportunity to tour the barns, meet our resident horses and chickens, and feed the pigs and goats. We love introducing kids to new animals!
Craft Time
Campers created many animal-themed crafts, including bird feeders, dog tug toys, and gel fishbowls. They also made slime, which is an integral part of any camping experience! Our mother-daughter craft duo was an incredible team and kept craft time engaging.
Shelter Animal Enrichment
The children spent time with adoptable animals daily, which was an excellent experience for everyone involved! Their supervised interactions provided enrichment and training for shelter animals and helped kids learn how to treat animals with respect. For example, Ariel from Teacher’s Pet taught campers about reading dog body language and the safest ways to approach unfamiliar dogs.
Finally, each week we had a Puppy and Kitten Adoption party where campers could pick out their stuffed pup or kitten, name them, create a collar and nametag, then fill out an adoption certificate.
This year’s Summer Camp was a success, and our campers had a blast! We loved this opportunity to educate the kids on proper animal care and interactions. If you’re interested in supporting our mission and animals in the community, check out The Warm Pet Project!