Adopt An Animal Course
Adopt an Animal is what makes Cub Creek Science Camp so different! This is camps' most popular activity! This week long course allows campers learn about and take care of their favorite camp animal for the week! Campers will learn about their animal's specific needs here at camp but also about its species in the wild.
Why Adopting an Animal is Important
At Cub Creek, we believe that taking care of one of our animals, even just for a week creates incredible growth opportunities for our campers.Caring for any living thing is a tremendous responsibility. Once campers realize that animals need our help in order to survive, they may take action at home using skills they learned to help out! You may notice that your child is taking the dog for a walk more often, or recycling more! We also want to help our campers understand the tremendous commitment of time and resources required to care for an animal in captivity. It's important to know that certain animals are great at camp and have given campers a chance to interact with animals they may only read about. But these animals are not suited for every home. After all, many of camps' animals are from homes that were no longer able to care for their exotic pet.
Check out Camp's Adopt an Animal areas below!
Adopt an Animal - Cats and Dogs
Our kennels are the temporary summer home to a variety of dogs of all shapes and sizes. For campers interested in the dogs, this course teaches campers how to work with them through playing, socializing and basic dog training. They take on the responsibilities for feeding, watering, walking, grooming, cleaning their dog's kennel, teaching their dog how to walk on a leash and follow simple commands. All of our kennel dogs are available for permanent adoption by our camp families and community, so we want our campers to help them get ready for their new home! For campers who love cats, in the hutch across from the kennel yard, they will socialize and interact with the acts from the local shelter. They will assume the responsibility for a cat of their choosing to care for their enclosure, litter box, and encourage their playful side with cat toys!
Adopt an Animal - Pentagon
The Pentagon is a large outdoor tree covered enclosure that is home to camps' large and small tortoises, wallabies, and many cavies. Campers involved with the Adopt an Animal - Pentagon course begin each activity period by walking the enclosure and ensuring that each animal is present and appears in good condition. Because these animals love to graze, campers learn to identify common edible wild plants, including dandelions, clover and dock. They'll get in good with their animals if they can find and bring them these treats!
Adopt an Animal - Jungle
The Jungle is its own temperature controlled building, which is home to a variety of animals ranging from parrots to lemurs! Those involved in the Adopt an Animal - Jungle course typically choose a specific animal and its entire enclosure to adopt. Campers will work collaboratively with others who may have adopted an animal inside that same enclosure. Together they ensure that the animals' living space is cleaned every day. The Jungle allows for campers to adopt an animal, while having encounters, learning about a wide range of creatures!
Adopt an Animal - Reptile Room
Over 20 different kinds of snakes and lizards live in our Reptile Room! Cleaning and feeding are a part of this course, but, because reptiles involve so much less daily maintenance than birds or mammals, the majority of the time in this course is spent holding and interacting with the reptiles. This includes giving each reptile some time outside to enjoy sunbathing or just moving through the grass. Campers spend time each day getting to know how their adopted reptile prefers to interact, and then sharing this learned information with the other campers who are part of the course. This way, everyone has the opportunity to hold and interact with every reptile in the room.
Adopt an Animal - Habitats
The Habitats' is a long room on the Front Side of the Animal Learning Center (ALC), made up of eight individual animal rooms. Campers taking the Adopt an Animal - Habitats course typically choose a specific animal and its entire enclosure to adopt. Like the Jungle, the Habitats' have incredible animal variety! From a Kookaburra to a Black Throated Monitor, campers have the opportunity to learn and interact with more animals than just the one they are caring for!
Adopt an Animal - Small Animal Room
Our Small Animal Room is located inside the Animal Learning Center and is the home to a variety of small pet shop type animals including; hedgehogs, guinea pigs, chinchillas and an Armadillo named Ben. Campers choose their favorite animal and become responsible for ensuring that its enclosure is kept clean, that is has food and water and that it has toys and other things that will help keep it from getting bored. A big component of this course is learning about and making animal enrichment activities as many of these animals are avid chewers! Classes are always spent holding animals and giving them time to stretch their legs in a large open petter.
Adopt an Animal - Llama Land
Llama Land is actually primarily made up for Alpacas. The name, "Llama Land" was established back when this pasture was home to our Llamas Cheri Cola, Tiger Lily and Dali. Out of our love for them, we have decided to keep that name. The alpacas that live there now are camps' resident cool kids. Campers choose an alpaca of their liking and take responsibility for its care. Because alpacas live as a group, the campers in this course work together to take care of the whole herd. Adopting a barn animal has different tasks and goals: the enclosure upkeep requires tools like rakes and shovels and the ultimate honor is when a shy animal lets you hand feed them!
Adopt an Animal - Back Pastures
Our back pastures are made up of four, fenced pens that are home to a variety of domestic and exotic livestock. Goats, sheep, zebus, a camel, a pig, and emus all live here. Campers begin each period by 'walking' their adopted animals pen. During this walk, campers are learning to take attention to detail for each animal, looking for signs of illness or injury. Looking at the fencing, campers can ensure that it's not been damaged by falling limbs or other animals. Campers work together to clean up the pastures, feeding their animals, and cleaning their water sources. After the daily maintenance is complete, campers spend time grooming and socializing with their adopted animal.
Adopt an Animal - Horses
Our miniature horses and donkeys also live in our of the back pastures. Equine science is a specialized section of animal science, we offer Adopt an Animal - Horses for campers to learn more about the species. Campers, who adopt a mini horse or donkey for the week, will begin each period by walking the horse pasture to check all animals and their enclosure. This course allows campers a chance to learn different techniques used when working with equines like haltering, hoof cleaning, grooming, and obstacle jumping! For enrichment day, campers make their horse special treats!