At work, we have a stuffed Barn Owl hanging from a wire on the ceiling of our nature lab. The owl, long dead, has recently begun to support a population of insects. It fell to me to do something about it, so I took a closer look at the problem today and found that it was crawling with little beetles. So, with my class watching, I took it down and we marched it up to the freezer. Once there, we bagged it and stuffed it inside. Unless the beetles have little parkas this should solve the problem.
One of my Flickr contacts thought the beetles looked like Carpet beetles. After doing a little research, I agree with her diagnosis. It's funny that the carpet beneath the owl shows no sign of infestation. I'll bet they're in there somewhere though.
I found a big Gopher snake in the chaparral area as well. The last one I came across was in the meadow last summer, so this was an unexpected treat. One of the other instructors spotted one in the meadow near camp too. Oh, and I found another baby Rattlesnake near our hillside amphitheater, mere minutes before the area was to be inundated with kids.
As for the kids this week at camp, they're bright and full of good questions. I like that.
Jen is on her way to Texas for a wedding right now, and will be there until Sunday. I'm taking the rest of the week off work to juggle the kids. Right now the younger ones need milk and stuff. Bye for now.
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