Chipmunks—those cute little critters that scamper around the camp like little adorable pets—but can create such damage! Randi Wynne-Parry was totally obsessed with them while she was camping 1969-73, and still owns her fuzzy, faded photos of the chipmunks she fed.

Chipmunks would find their way into the huts and create havoc. “One morning we went to breakfast and when we came back, our hut had been ransacked by a chipmunk! We couldn’t figure out how it got in and we couldn’t figure out how it got out, but it made a disaster! We were petrified,” said Brooke Sauve (1949-51), who is still afraid of animals to this day.

Sally Allen (1968-73) felt just the opposite. She loved the nature hut and all the critters. “We were able to get up close and personal with the chipmunks and squirrels. They were captured humanely and let go after two weeks,” she said of the snakes, frog and turtles.

“Those little guys sounded like a herd of elephants in the morning as they crunched the leaves, and we could not sleep through it,” said Carol Wahl (1974-75) of the chipmunks.

Of course, there were samples of nature that were not as large, but brought much interest to the girls. Nature itself was the classroom, as paper wasps’ nests and cocoons from moths and butterflies came under scrutiny, with the intent not to harm them or get stung in the process.

Tricia Sautter recalled a little camper in her second year (1969) who caught a baby bird and it was covered in lice. “When she brought it to the nature center, the whole place had to be fumigated by a company that sealed it up and set off a big “bug bomb”.

“The Farm”, by Brad Funk, was the title of an article in the “Loon” in the late seventies’. “Wednesday, the 6th of July, Maquois started a farm they hope to have finished by the end of the week. Our first animal to join the farm is a goat by the name of Billy. He is presently kept at the nature hut. We hope to have a pen for him at the old horse stable. Also, we hope to add some other kinds of animals, such as a bull calf, two ducks, one rabbit, one pig, two guinea pigs and a pony.”

Many years there were dogs at camp that belonged to the staff, but Ethel Feldman wrote an article in the “Loon” in 1947, entitled “Roger the Dodger” about a “rather forlorn dog” that strayed into camp. It was a brown and white Springer Spaniel that delighted all the girls and stayed for a few days. They named him Roger and he slept in hut 8 the first night, where he first strayed. Described as “rather old and not too spunky”, he loved the affection of the campers and was attentive during their assemblies.

Then there was the summer of the feral cat when Pat Alcorn (1951-52) and her friend Linda Greenwald thought it was just a nice kitty and tried to make friends with it. “It bit my friend and it turned out the cat was rabid. So, my friend had to endure a series of painful anti-rabies shots. What a memory!”

A lockdown occurred when Cara Prieskorn (1966-71) was camping. A rabid Wolverine was spotted between cabin C and Chapel Hill. “Flash”, (Sue Wiegand), who was the riflery instructor, had to stand with a 22 rifle. I have no idea how long she had to do that or if she ever spotted the thing.”

“There were always animals around, both in the lodge and outside,” said Rhonda Thayer, who served as the business manager from 1974-77. “We had bats and the girls would chase them around with tennis racquets and we had many chipmunks inside. One summer the kids found a baby bobcat and I kept it in my room with a litter box, even though we were not supposed to have animals with us. By the end of the summer, it had grown and it never got its shots, so when the camper took it home, it died. There was also a goat on the premises, but the director was always worried the kids would catch trichinosis, because it would wander down to the lake and drink the water.”

Barb Ballor had a strong memory of a bobcat captured in a cage in the fifties’. “I thought it was so interesting. It was angry and snarling. When I got back home, my parents received a phone call to see if I had come in contact with the cat. One of the girls had, and and had to get rabies shots.”

Were you at camp during any of the lockdowns, rabies scares, or bites?