For the second year, the Make Better Children Now (MCBN) foundation spent a week teaching area kids to sing, dance, act and have fun at a week-long camp at Evangel Church in Chatham.
According to MCBN founder Mike Neuts, the aim of the week was to encourage kids to open up, gain confidence and learn to respect themselves, each other and the earth around them. Basically, it teaches respect for all.
One part of the week included a mid-week visit from Michael Shore and his birds of prey, that Neuts said he set up to remind campers that respect includes nature and the creatures that make their home in it.
Shore, owner of Shore Bird Control in the St. Thomas area, brought with him a baby bald eagle named Barb which he imprint-raised from an egg, along with a year-old female Harris Hawk named Louelle and the third largest type of owl in the world, a Eurasian Eagle Owl named Loretta Lynn.
Campers learned about the hunting style of the birds, what they eat, how old they would get and how Shore cared for the birds. The kids asked a lot of questions, including, do the birds bite and does his house smell like bird poop.
Barb, the six-week-old bald eagle, stood over a foot tall, and Shore said her most effective hunting tool is her incredible eyesight, that can read a penny from two kilometres away, and her claws which can inflict 1000 lbs. per square inch of pressure on its prey.
Campers and adults had the chance to have Louelle, the Harris Hawk, perch on their arm on a protective leather glove to get a close-up view of the hunting bird, which is found naturally in desert areas of Texas and Mexico.
“I take the birds hunting every day so they get exercise and they can hunt for their own food,” Shore explained. “Just like if you stayed inside on the couch and didn’t get exercise, the birds would get weak and bored if they weren’t able to fly and hunt. They are built to hunt for their own food.”
Shore has 10 birds in total that he is licensed to own to control nuisance birds at airports, landfills and on farms.
The 22 campers enjoyed meeting the birds and learning about them, and Neuts said he likes to have a mid-week treat for the kids, like the birds of prey demonstration, and then an afternoon at the Kingston Park splash pad.
He was especially thankful to Evangel Church for letting them use the church facilities and to Quo Vadis for providing pizza for the kids. While he hoped for a higher attendance of campers, Neuts said he was happy with how the week went, and how much the kids enjoyed their week.
