Summer Critters

If you're a fan of this blog, (and I know you are!) you'll know on January 9th, 2020 we published a blog called "Winter Critters" that was all about how animals kept warm in the winter time. Well, it's 6 months later and guess what? It's finally warm out, so I thought we could take a look at how animals are keeping themselves cool during the summer months.

Here are some things the animals around Foley do to keep cool during a Minnesota summer...


Taking Turtle Naps!
Turtles are much more active in the summer and will awaken from their hibernation and emerge from lakes and ponds. The temperatures they love the most are between 70 and 85 degrees, but they will tolerate nighttime temperatures down into the 50's. During the summer, they are seldom active during the mid-day heat and do most of their hunting and foraging during the cool, early morning hours. They can be found sunning themselves on rocks and logs during the hottest part of the day.




New Bear Hair!
The summer heat can be downright “unbearable” for us humans, so people often wonder how the black bears handle hot days with their fur coats. While people wear coats to keep warm, animals have fur not only to stay warm, but to stay cool too! Much like dogs, bears do not sweat. They pant to dissipate heat and, they shed their thick and heavy winter undercoat to help them deal with the summer heat. The remaining hairs are lighter and longer, helping to insulate their bodies while keeping heat and direct sunlight from their skin. As they move, the longer, taller hairs float and sway allowing for cooler air to move along their body.



Deer Ears!
Like the bear, deer shed a lot of their thick coat in preparation for summer. They also pant to help heat escape their body. But by far the "coolest" way a deer keeps itself cool is with its ears. A deer’s ears are hairless in the summer to allow heat to escape from the body and speed up the cooling process.






Squirrels Sweat!
Yes, just like humans, squirrels can also sweat when they get really hot. Squirrels have sweat glands in between the pads at the bottom of their feet and in between their toes, By sweating through their feet, they're able to cool themselves off. They also chill out through respiration, panting like other animals we discussed.

                                                                                    

 Eagles Soaring Above 
Eagles often soar at higher altitudes on the hottest days. While this does not get them out of the sun, the air temperatures are much colder at great altitude, which keeps the birds cooler. They can also be found in shady areas during the hottest times of the year, particularly near water sources and low to the ground. The more layers of branches and leaves above the ground, the more heat will be absorbed and the cooler the shade will be.



We are lucky at Camp Foley to have a lake and lovely tall trees to keep us cool, but maybe we can learn something from these animals too!

Climbing to New Heights!

It's time for another activity spotlight! This week is all about climbing, a very popular activity here at camp.

Camp Foley has a two-sided, 38-foot tall climbing wall. The wall was built in 1999. There are three climbing routes on each side of the wall to challenge all level of Foley climbers. Campers learn climbing safety, how to put on proper equipment and how to climb and belay while they are here.

Two awards are offered at Climbing: the Biner and Rock Jock. The biner is the beginning award in climbing, and involves camper having knowledge of the equipment used while climbing, knowing how to correctly bleay other climbers, and they must
climb to the top of the wall twice without falling. The Rock Jock is the highest award in climbing and is one of the hardest awards to achieve at Camp Foley. You must first have achieved your biner award. Campers have to climb all four walls without resting, falling, or using the rope to climb to the top, among other things.

We also have a bouldering wall, added in 2002. This is a smaller wall with similar holds that does not require a harness to climb on. It is part of the Rock Jock award requirements, as campers trying to achieve the Rock Jock must complete an entire climb around the wall using only the orange holds available on the wall.

We teach climbing during the camp season in the summer and also offer climbing as an option for students who participate in Camp Foley's outdoor education program. Climb On Everybody!

TORT TIME!

If you have been a camper in the last 5 years, you know exactly what "Tort Time" is! For those wondering, this is a reference to an activity available during Morning Fun and Free Swim, the two free periods scheduled each day at camp. When campers see "Tort Time" written on the white board they know to head straight to the nature center to see our good friend Tort.

Who is Tort?? 
Come on, everybody knows Tort! He's Tort the Tortoise and over the summer he comes to live here at Camp Foley. Tort is a gopher tortoise, and almost 30 years old, making him much too old to be a camper.

Ok, but what is a Gopher Tortoise?

The gopher tortoise is one of five North American tortoise species and is the only tortoise naturally found east of the Mississippi River. It can grow to be up to 15 inches long and weigh from eight to 15 pounds. With their strong elephant looking back legs and front feet specialized for digging, they are well-adapted to burrowing. The burrows provide gopher tortoises with protection from predators . They are most active in the warmer months but spend most of their lives in their burrows. The  
burrows can get over 20 feet deep! Our Tort is a very average sized gopher tortoise, and we estimate about 30 years old according to one of our Foley nature experts Ace. These animals usually live to be 60 years old in the wild, but in captivity the could be over 90 years old. Hopefully this means we will have Tort for a very long time.

Fine, but where do they live?
Gopher tortoises prefer well-drained, sandy soils found in parts of Mississippi, Georgia, and Florida.  Land they like contains sandy soil for digging burrows and nesting, lost of green plants for eating, and open, sunny areas without a lot of trees for sunbathing. While at camp, Tort lives in the outside enclosure at the nature center. It has very nice sandy soil for Tort to dig in and one large tree so he can decide when to nap in the shade or get his tanning on in the sun.

That's cool, what do they eat?
These guys are herbivores, and eat grasses, mushrooms, prickly pear cactus pads, fruits and flowers, as well as blackberries, blueberries, gopher apples and other low-growing fruits. Tort gets spoiled here at camp and usually gets lots of treats taken form the Camp salad bar.

Check out some pics of Tort below!

Can I Really Spend Another Summer Working at Camp?

Are you a past Camp Foley counselor? Are you thinking of spending a summer working at Foley? Are you worried you're missing another opportunity if you commit to working at a summer camp AGAIN?

Worry not! You might think I'm biased towards working at camp, but don't just take it from me take it from Leah Mesches! She recently wrote an article about the benefits of working more than one year at a summer camp. She writes about how working multiple
years at summer camp is equivalent to multiple levels of leadership training. She also touches on how working at the same camp for a few years gives you a chance to really focus on the skills you want hone for future jobs, as you are already familiar with the camp environment.



Take some time to read the whole article here. And if you've been waiting for a sign to fill out that 2020 staff application, the time is NOW! And maybe refer a friend who is looking for an amazing summer experience. The best people to pitch Foley to new counselors is past counselors!