Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

When I went camping a few weeks back, I met up with some interesting creatures.  I may have taken just a wee bit of literary license here with my title, but be assured we did have critters to contend with.  And if I may be so bold as to say it, in many ways they were more frightening than the above mentioned lions, tigers and bears.

To start with, there was the spider.  Now let it me known, when my husband is around, I call on him (in a very calm manner, of course) to squish any bug or spider I come across.  But at girl's camp I had to "be a man" so to speak.  On the first day of camp, one of the girls came screaming out of her tent about the horrific spider inside.  Leader that I was, a stoic face was necessary.  I went after the beast with only my shoe.  But it was not to be the epic battle you might expect.  Inside the tent was one of the teeniest spiders you've ever seen.  Okay, it was a bit of an anticlimax, I must admit.  But the young camper was truly terrified.

The next beast to appear only appeared in theory.  We were scheduled to take rafts down the river, but it was uncertain if we would be able to do so.  Rain had been plentiful of late and the river was deemed too high and swift to be safe.  Finally, right before our scheduled time, it was announced that we would be allowed on the river, but the campground wanted us to send as many adults with the girls as possible.  This was a problem for one of my fellow leaders.  Rafters from the previous year had informed her about the snakes in the river.  She and snakes were about as good a combination as the young camper and spiders!  But given the circumstances, this leader had no choice but to go, threat of snakes and all.  In the end, it was a similar anticlimax.  I kept my eyes pealed for snakes, knowing she was behind me on the river, and honestly, also knowing that snakes weren't my favorite as well.  To the relief of both of us, we saw no snakes!

Now, lest you think there were actually no terrifying creatures at all, let me tell you about the raccoons and skunks.  Or maybe I'll just save them for my next blog . . .