PM Session Friday

Follow this link to see all of our photos from camp this week!: https://photos.app.goo.gl/tkoyMR4iXVZbK2YR2

Our last day of camp started off with a fun animal accordion craft activity and our pet share. We learned so much about all of the campers pets and saw many cute pictures, stuffed animals, and even a t-shirt with a camper's pet dog on it!

The second half of the afternoon included a visit from HSCC staff Erin Alamed & her adopted dog Shelby. Erin told us about working in the shelter & Shelby loved giving licks and getting pets from the campers. 

We spent relaxing time in the sun with our box turtle Carman and watched her move & climb all over her outdoor playground. See thanks the campers for helping with her care this week!

The campers hung our peanut butter bird feeders in the trees by our camp tent and we ended with a fun scavenger hunt in the pet cemetery with a prize of freeze pops.  

We hope everyone had a fun week with us. We will miss you! Have a great rest of the summer!

~Camp Paw Paw :)

AM Session Friday

Follow this link to see all of our photos from this week at camp!: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ne0pYCKLQT3nrpaA3 

Our last day of Camp Paw Paw this week began with a fun animal accordion craft activity & feral cat feeding.

Next our campers shared what they brought in for our pet/animal share. We learned so much about each other and saw some adorable pet pictures!

After pet share, our special guests today were two officers from the Burlington Police Department along with their canine companions & working buddies, two very smart, and well trained German Shepards. We learned that the police dogs learn how to identify 7 different types of drugs and their sense of smell is so good that they can find a jellybean thrown onto a football field! We saw how the officers can command them to seek out an object or person or even attack if necessary. The dogs live with their police handlers in their homes and can relax like any normal dog when off duty.

We finished our day with a scavenger hunt in the pet cemetery located right by the shelter and the campers earned their prize, a freeze pop! We hope everyone had a fun week with us. We will miss you! Have a great rest of the summer!

~Camp Paw Paw :)

PM Session Thursday

Follow this link to see all of our photos this week at camp!: https://photos.app.goo.gl/tkoyMR4iXVZbK2YR2

Our day started with table station activities in the tent such as animal crosswords, coloring & a new group of feral cat feeders put out new food & water for our three ferals. We didn't spot any of the cats as they were probably busy hunting out in the wild, but they certainly will be happy to find the food by the shelter later and we even left them a special treat, some wet food!

We then were treated to a special guest, Vanessa Zerillo, who taught us all about cats & how they behave. The campers then were split into small groups and presented with a cat related problem to solve and they talked together to brainstorm ideas about what the best solutions could be to help out their specific cats. Some problems included a cat who needed to lose weight and a new cat being introduced into a home that already has a cat. Some things we learned that most people may not know is that chocolate, grapes, onion, and garlic are toxic to cats, the number of litter boxes in your home should equal the number of cats you have plus 1 extra litter box, and that cat's whiskers are not like hair and do have nerves in them and therefore should never be cut off!

The end of our day included relaxing with friends in our tent and hanging our with our camp box turtle Carman in the sun while she snacked on her favorite fruit: watermelon & blueberries!

Reminder: Pet Share tomorrow! Bring in a pet/animal related photo or stuffed animal to share!

AM Session Thursday

Follow this link to view all of our photos from this week at Camp!: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ne0pYCKLQT3nrpaA3

Our day started with table station activities in the tent such as dog kongs, crosswords, coloring & a new group of feral cat feeders put out new food & water for our three ferals. We didn't spot any of the cats as they were probably busy hunting out in the wild, but they certainly will be happy to find the food by the shelter later!

Then we had a special guest speaker, Garrett Levin, a vet at BEVS (Burlington Emergency Vet Services) who shared with us what it is like to be a vet and showed us some crazy x-rays of dogs and cats who had swallowed things they shouldn't have. HSCC staff, Erin, brought in her dog Shelby who was very patient while Dr.Levin wrapped her leg with bandage. Campers then put their own bandaging skills to the test when they had to work with their group to bandage their stuffed animal and explain to our group what their injuries were and how long they will taker to heal. 

We ended the day with playing animal hangman and making peanut butter pine cone bird feeders to hang up in the trees around camp. 

Reminder: Pet Share tomorrow! Bring in a pet/animal related photo or stuffed animal to share!

Wild Wednesday at Camp

Follow this link to view all of our photos from this week at Camp: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ne0pYCKLQT3nrpaA3

Our day started with creating cat toys, working on word searches, and hanging out with Carmen. After a few of our friends had come back from feeding the feral cats, we made our way to the field (hooray for actually getting outside the tent for most of the day today!!) to play some games. Shark and minnows and "if your animal..." were a few favorites.

We went back to the picnic tables for snack then went inside the shelter to meet up with Erin Alamed, the volunteer coordinator for the shelter. She taught us all about what it means to be a volunteer and what it takes to keep the Humane Society running smoothly and efficiently while keeping the animals comfortable and happy. We had a chance to meet and hang out with all of the cats in the shelter and say hello to all of the smallies (guinea pigs, a bunny, and a fancy mouse).

We went back outside, finished up any leftover snack and crafts, then went back to the field for some more sun and games.

Our day ended with learning about smallies and how to approach, pick up, set down, and pet them. Campers made some pretty great skits. Check them out in our google photos album!

Wilderness Wednesday

Camp started with painting our clay creations form yesterday, and a whole lot of word searches and Mad Libs. A few of our campers went to feed the feral cats out behind the shelter, while others had some quality Carmen time.

Once all the campers were rallied, sunscreen, bug sprayed, and stopped by the bathroom, we were off to Red Rocks Park! It was so nice to finally be able to be out in the sun and to get out of the tent. At Red Rocks, we had our snack, then played a handful of games. Chow, red light green light, and flying tree squirrel tag were some crowd favorites.

After we walked back, we had some time to check for the feral cats, finish up cat toys, and hang out with friends.

Follow this link to see all of our photos this week at camp: https://photos.app.goo.gl/tkoyMR4iXVZbK2YR2

PM Session Day Two

Follow this link to see all of our photos this week at camp!: https://photos.app.goo.gl/tkoyMR4iXVZbK2YR2

Our 2nd day of camp started with our campers making cat toys to take home and a group of campers helped feed our feral cats.

 After beginning of camp activities, campers were treated to a special surprise of meeting HSCC's newest residents: five puppies who were transported from the southern U.S. to be adopted here in Vermont.

 Our next guests were Joann Nichols & Kayla who taught us all about bats! We learned they use echolocation to find their prey and campers got to check out bat anatomy and a real bat house. We finished the afternoon with a fun game of echolocation bat tag where blindfolded bats with seeing eye guides had to chase down mosquitos (other campers) buzzing all around.

Important Notes:

***Friday, we will be doing a pet share and encourage campers to bring in a picture of any of their pets (or perhaps stuffed animals or pets that they know if they don't have any at home). These can be brought in any day throughout the week!!

*** Please walk with your camper to the tent during drop off & pick up times to make sure we are able to check off that your child has arrived at camp or is leaving camp. We want to know who is here when they arrive and we especially do not want to miss seeing a camper leave and think they have gone missing. Thank you for your help and support in keeping our campers safe :)

AM Session Day Two

Follow this link to view all of our photos from this week at Camp!: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ne0pYCKLQT3nrpaA3

AM Session: Day Two of Camp Paw Paw started off with feral cat feeding (we spotted two!: Mr.Jingles & Cameron), Kong making, and a paper plate make your own turtle craft. 

We were then treated to a very special surprise! Puppies fresh off a transport from the Southern U.S. had a meet & greet with us in the shelter. We talked about the best way to approach a dog calmly, let them come to you, and pet them on their chest or side. We are sure these guys will find great homes very quickly. 

 After puppy time, we met another special guest, Rick the Hedgehog. Rick was brought to the humane society about a year ago and was immediately adopted by Joann, one of the HSCC Staff. Joann gave Rick to a very responsible Foster mom Kayla, who accompanied him today. He is a very social hedgie who loved trying to hide under the campers legs. He snacked on some meal worms and crawled under his fleece blanket. We learned that hedgehogs are nocturnal, they don't have great eyesight, but do have great smell & hearing. All of the campers had a chance to hold Rick before he said goodbye.

We finished the morning with a fun game of poison dart frog & the campers made clay animals! 

Important Notes:

***Friday, we will be doing a pet share and encourage campers to bring in a picture of any of their pets (or perhaps stuffed animals or pets that they know if they don't have any at home). These can be brought in any day throughout the week!!

*** Please walk with your camper to the tent during drop off & pick up times to make sure we are able to check off that your child has arrived at camp or is leaving camp. We want to know who is here when they arrive and we especially do not want to miss seeing a camper leave and think they have gone missing. Thank you for your help and support in keeping our campers safe :)

Day One of Camp!

The afternoon, rainy as it was, started our great! We decorated name tags, did some coloring pages, animal themed Mad Libs, and word searches.

A few of the campers volunteered to be our first group to help give the feral cats food and water. Out back, there are three feral cats. Throughout the week, campers will be helping to give these three feral cats (Cameron, Aladdin, and Mr. Jingles) food and water. Today there was a Mr. Jingles spotting! Feral cats have a tendency to avoid humans. However, we know that we are keeping them, full, happy, and safe.

Campers also helped to fill peanut butter dog Kongs for the dogs in the shelter. They will be frozen and given to the pups every night as a treat and way to stay entertained. Both feeding the feral cats, and helping with dog Kongs will be continued through the rest of the week!

We also helped to feed Carmen, the three toed box turtle. Throughout the week, we will be taking care of Carmen and here habitat. Today she had watermelon, some leafy greens, and blueberries to munch on. We learned all about why it's important to wash our hands any time we handle reptiles (fun fact: reptiles carry Salmonella. They aren't affected by the little germ, but we can be - so always wash your hands!)

Linden, a professor at UVM stopped by and taught us all about bugs (did you know that bugs doesn't mean anything in the scientific world? It's a relative category that people came up with to categorize pests that were bugging them). Linden taught us all about insects, arachnids, and many other categories of "bugs".

Next we had a special surprise. Two of the staff members were kind enough to let us play with their personal dogs, Koana and Shelby. During this play time inside, we took groups of campers on a tour of the Humane Society, where they learned about the structure of the buildings, met our cats and smallies, and learned about everything that our wonderful volunteers do to keep the shelter running smoothly!

We're looking forward to the rest of our (hopefully less rainy) week!

Your Camp Paw Paw counselors!

Our First Day of Camp!

Our morning started with decorating names tags, filling peanut butter dog Kongs (these are frozen and every night when the staff goes home, each shelter dog receives one of these to play with and snack on), coloring pages, and word searches.

Once everyone was there, we started a few games until our guest speaker arrived. Michelle Douglas is a vet at BEVS and on the side, volunteers at Therapy Dogs of Vermont. She brought her two dogs. Ritter (6 years old) and Odin (2 years old) who both passed the therapy dog tests and work with Michelle at local hospitals, camps, schools, reading programs, and nursing homes.

After Michelle, we started our tours of the Humane society which included saying hello to our shelter cats and smallies, learning about what our volunteers do at the shelter, being introduced to how we will be helping the feral cats throughout the week, and meeting Carmen (our box turtle that we will be caring for through the week!

Even with the rain, we still had a wonderful first day of camp, and are looking forward to the rest of the (hopefully less rainy) week!

Friday at Camp Paw Paw

Follow this link to check out all of our photos from this week at Camp Paw Paw!: https://photos.app.goo.gl/eeufJuhYvHR4LYuG3

Such an exciting & fun last day of camp! The morning began with daily jobs such as filling dog kongs, feeding Carman the turtle her snack of a worm & leftover greens, and feeding our feral cats. Campers also hung up their pinecone bird feeders in the trees by camp.

During snack time for campers, we did our pet share and campers talked about what they brought in to share with the group. We loved learning about everyone’s pets, past and present, and met some really adorable stuffed animals too.

After snack we had quite a few special guests from 802 Reptiles! Campers met a variety of ball pythons, an African lizard, and a boa constrictor. So many of the campers and even counselors took turns holding the snakes! These animals have always been in human care since birth and therefore are extremely relaxed and used to being held. The campers did an awesome job that they were given even more time with the snakes and each camper that held a snake got their picture taken which is included in our Google Photos Album.

Our last hour of camp was our end of camp celebration carnival. Campers played field games. Counselors Jess & Heather did face painting, and Counselor Sonia gave campers temporary Humane Society Tattoos. Campers were treated to a surprise of munchkin donuts before the end of the day!

We had an amazing week with all of the campers and we hope they enjoy the rest of their summer!

~Camp Paw Paw Staff :)