MSU Extension Tollgate Farm and Education Center

2022 Wild Animal Camp: Day 4

Week 2 of MSU Tollgate Summer Camp has officially started and all the campers are getting wild to learn about wild animals during the next five days of camp! With our Green, Yellow, Orange and Red Pepper groups, this summer camp is bound to have the best time ever! Let's take a look at what we did throughout our day one of WILD ANIMAL CAMP! 

Again I would like to apologize in advance for the limited picture blog posts. Our Communications Leader is currently sick with COVID so we are doing our best with out her. But we can't wait to have her back! 

Flag Ceremony 

Every day of camp we kick off the day with a flag ceremony where the different pepper groups will present the flag. Today they green peppers did an amazing job presenting the flag. Looking forward to the Winged Wonders tomorrow!

Farmer Roy and Jack the Wonder Dog!

Today we were so lucky to have Farmer Roy and his Dog Jack the Wonder Dog today at the Farm. Although they live here everyday, we were lucky to have Jack and Roy "Duck" retrieving presentation. Farmer Roy showed us the tricks that Jack had learned and taught us the lesson of positive reinforcement and recognition of positive effort. Jack showed us his command skills, ability to follow scent and color, and amazing listening skills! Thank you so much Farmer Roy and Jack for sharing this talent with the campers! 

Animal Chores: Chickens, Ducks, Goats, and Rabbits 

Another day of animal chores! Today the yellow peppers were excited to have the opportunity to milk some goats! During this the campers learned about how to safely milk a goat, why we milk goats, and what is the job a goat on the farm. Then the orange peppers headed over to the duck pen to visit the drakes and ducks, the red peppers headed to the rabbits and the green to the chickens! In the picture to the right you can see the yellow peppers milking the goats! 

Garden Kitchen: Peach and Strawberry Jam and Spider Oat Bites  

Breakfast this morning we got to enjoy yesterdays labor.. peach and strawberry jam! Chopped and Cooked yesterday, cooled over night. Some campers enjoyed the jam on its own on crackers, while some enjoyed to make a sun butter jam sandwich and smash the two delicious flavors together. 

Afternoon snack was a HUGE hit! Spider oat balls. Oats, maple syrup, chocolate chips.. What's not to love?

STEAM: Creature Creation

Creature creation today was making a habitat for our creature! Now that we have created our mythical creature we need to discover what kind of habitat it would thrive in. What kind of food does it eat? What eats it? What weather does it need? Where does it seek shelter? All of these questions the campers were able to answer and will share tomorrow during our presentations.  

CSA Visit with Farmer Darby 

 This morning we took a visit to see Farmer Darby in the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture Fields). Today was all about Squash. We visited the endless fields of Squash ranging from cucumbers to summer squash to winter squash. The campers were super excited to learn about the different ways to grow squash plants and the different tools used and then got to harvest some squash of their own. Some peppers got the harvest cucumbers while others harvested zucchinis. The zucchinis we practice our knife skills while cucumbers we used the twist and pull technique. 

Nest Building 

Instead of going into the forest we learned about nests and the use of a nest for birds in the wild. What do nests do? Are the all the same? How do bird design nests? How do they choose the resources that they choose. Campers did a great job using mud, hay, straw, etc.. to build their nests. 

Do you think your nest would have protected an egg if it fell?

 Fishy Story 

How can we protect our water? Today the camper reenacted a story about a Fish in Detroit and all the pollution that happens to his habitat. This lesson is not to blame anyone, as we live in an imperfect world. There will never not be pollution and habitat destruction while live, however. we can do our part to better protect the wildlife and environment in the world. What small or large changes do you think you can do in your life to help protect our drinking water?

 The End

Well that's the end day four! What new adventures do you think day five will bring?

Remember Tie Dye T-shirt Friday tomorrow and Closing ceremony at 3:20pm.