Homemade Bird Feeders

By Grace Camp – Age 6

Last week I made bird feeders out of pine cones, peanut butter and bird seed. I found the recipe on my Kindle in the Nature Cat app. I think it’s in PBS kids app.

It is so easy to make! You can watch the video of me making one or read directions below!

Here’s how:

Step 1: Get a pine cone.

Step 2: Take string or yarn and tie it to the pine cone. Make sure one side is long enough to hang on something, like a branch or hook.

Step 3: Spread peanut butter all over the pine cone. You can get it on the string but just where it’s tied on the pine cone, not the hanging part. Also, don’t get dirty peanut butter in your jar. You don’t want to eat that!

Step 4: Get a bag of bird food and pour it on a tray or plate.

Step 5: Roll the pine cone in the seed. You can also sprinkle it on but I like rolling better. Watch out! It’s messy.

Step 6: Hang you feeder on a hook or branch and watch your birds happily eat!

Now that I graduated kindergarten, I think my Mom will let me do more projects like this!


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The Snake

By Brian Camp, age 10

Earlier this week, I was playing with my sisters, Ava ,and Vinny. They were running around the yard catching butterflies. Ella was about to step in our flower bed when she thought there was a stick on the ground. Suddenly she screamed as loud as she could, “Snake!”

My Mom jumped up, she was working on the deck with her computer, and told me to get the shovel from the shed. She said I needed to walk around the deck to bring her the shovel so I didn’t scare the snake and she could kill it.

When I handed her the shovel I said, “Don’t kill it unless it’s a poisonous snake! if it’s a garter snake we should let Andrew have it!” My friend Andrew has been wanting a garter snake forever. Mom said she didn’t know what kind of snake it was so Andrew better get here fast or it was going to be a DEAD snake. Mom texted Andrew’s mom and they headed right over–they live just up the street.

When Andrew got here, he looked at the snake and said it was a garter snake.. he was 99% sure and he said it’s harmless. He went to grab it but Mom made him put on gloves. So I gave him. moms rubber garden gloves and then he grabbed a pole off the deck. He put a pole on top of the snake and then he grabbed the snake behind the head and picked it up. Mom screamed. then took some pictures.

Andrew’s mom showed up and Andrew walked back to his house with the snake. At Andrew’s house, we made it a big cage. He was going to name him Fang but chose Slitherin instead. Then we played. That’s it.



Houston, we have a problem!

So, we’ve spent the last few days in a battle with groundhogs. Sunday morning we noticed something had gotten into our garden and ate the tops off the carrots, leaves off most of the green beans, and a good chunk of our lettuce, spinach, and kale crops.

Later that evening during dinner, Vinny told Clinton and Tarin he noticed something through the window in the garden. Sure enough it was a groundhog! Clint chased it out the garden and discovered it CHEWED a hole in our fencing (cheap-ass chicken wire!).

Clint ran to the store to get reinforcements and I debated if I wanted to pull out my riffle for some target practice.

When Clint got back, I showed him an old trap I found from the previous owners and we loaded it up with all the groundhog’s favorite things then set it outside the garden by the hole it made. Inside the garden we situated the owl.

Then we waited.

The next morning it didn’t appear that the groundhog returned. The trap was untouched and the garden appeared to have no further damage.

The waiting game continued… until Sr. took Jack outside:

This. Was. War.

Sr. added celery to the trap and reset it inside the garden covered with hay. A few hours later Jr. came screaming inside with news that we caught the villain!

As we all gathered outside, the kids were the first to fall prey to the evil groundhog’s cute exterior.

Clint offered to remove the animal to a local park but Tarin’s dad was unsure this was legal and offered a more permanent solution.

Sr. was put in charge of “handling it” after the kids all went inside, which turned out to be much more difficult. Apparently our garden vegetables made it temporarily invincible and it knew it as it but the end of the barrel and tried to eat it way through the side of the trap.

Ultimately it was done and our crops were safe…

Or so we thought….



Ziggy and Harold

by Ella Rose, age 8

I think wildlife is fascinating. When I find bugs and animals I want to take care of them.

Ziggy is a bug. When I found Ziggy last week, we were in the garden. We were looking at the kale, green beans, and other stuff. I was walking when I saw him. He had stripes on his wings that made a zig-zag pattern.

I scooped him up with my hands then I walked around with him and put him the pot with pansies and forget-me-nots on the back deck. I wonder if he is still there.

A few days later, when my Dad was in the hospital and our Aunt Rosey was taking care of us, we found a toad. We named him Harold but I wanted to name him Kyle.

We let him swim in the pool. Brian swam with him. 🤣 We were going to to keep Harold but the inernet said not to keep wild toads. Now I’m asking Mom and Dad if I can get a pet toad from the store. Mom’s not a fan of the idea.

I love that our house has a big yard full of wildlife.



Our dog Jack

by Brian J. Camp Jr. – age 10

Jack is a playful pet and he the best dog you could ask for. He is a Labradoodle and likes to hop. He can hop really high and it’s really funny.

He used to sleep in my parent’s room but now he sleeps in my bed every night. In the morning, I have full responsibility on feeding him, and letting him outside.

Sometimes I try to take him on our walks, but my Mom does not let me walk him in the mornings (because she has her hands full with her coffee). I beg sometimes. It barely works, but its worth it. Normally I have to wait until our afternoon walks.

Jack tears up toys really fast but only likes toys that squeak. He loves to play catch, until he gets tired.

I tried talking Mom into a middle name for Jack, but she didn’t like my ideas and I didn’t like her’s. So he has not middle name.

*Posts are edited by Mom for spelling and punctuation.



Meet Sarah Lee

by Ella Rose – age 8

*Posts are proofread by Mom for clarity and some spelling and punctuation.

Sarah is our cat. Sarah is an 9 year old black cat. Her birthday is July 17th. Normally her eyes are yellowish green. My Dad named her after a snack brand because he likes snacks. Our cat is sweet. Sarah is a loud meower. She hasn’t always been a meower. Almost every morning Sarah comes and meows at my door. MEOW! MEOW! MEOW! It’s annoying, but I love her.

Last week she almost scratched my sister Grace’s eye out but only because Grace ran up behind her and tried to pick her up suddenly. Mom kept telling her to leave Sarah alone all day. She didn’t listen. Her eye is okay now.