Raven Scouts

Mouse:  There are two merit badges around pet care, with one specifically focusing on dogs.  Since we already have a dog, we decided to get a new pet in order to complete both badges. Or at least, when we decided to get a new dog, it sort of worked out that we could focus on both :) Allow me to introduce you all to Badger, our Bernese Mountain Dog mutt! Mouse:  Badger was found in a junk yard where he had either been tethered or where he retreated after being tethered.  He was found with a rope wrapped around his neck and body, surviving off whatever he could find in the junk yard and covered in ticks. Needless to say, he was extremely excited to be a part of a loving family.  This is how he slept on my lap on the way home from Georgia. Wolf: I was in Canada for about a week, and Mouse found Badger online just before I left. I thought for sure I would return from my trip and have a new dog. Somehow he held off and we made a weekend vacation to to pick Badger up from his f

This weekend, Wolf and I took part in a group camping trip!  Unfortunately, Bobcat couldn't make it, but we had a few other campers join us!  Some of our friends with children stayed in a cabin, and the rest of us camped out, with Gypsy and Badger in tow. We had a great time working on several merit badges including hiking and camping.  We'll definitely write more about that in future posts.  More importantly, we added a few new members to the Raven Scout fold! Cheetah, Puffin, Flamingo, Turtle, Bear, and Murloc joined the Raven Scouts to form an Asheville, NC chapter.  Meanwhile, Honey Bee, Egg and Owl joined the Carrboro, NC chapter.  Our dogs also chose animal nicknames as honorary members, bringing Badger and Dragon into the fold.  Be sure to check out everyone's bios and keep up with what merit badges have been earned on the Raven Scout Members and Merit Badges Earned page . The adventure continues... -Mouse

Today I began working on the Insect Study Merit badge! To begin with, you learn about the kingdom, phylum, and class of insects, along with the major orders and families.  You also label the parts of an insect. I also need to observe 20 insects in my area... I took it upon myself to sketch them in my journal.  I started with 6, but I'll keep observing until the badge is complete.  Here we have the common Black Carpenter Ant (Camponotus pennsylvanicus), the Green June Bug Beetle (Cotinis nitida), the Lady Bug Beetle (Coccinella magnifica), the Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa micans), the Green Darner Dragonfly (Anax junius), and the Paper Wasp (Polistes dominula). I did realize, that most of the photos I've taken while camping and hiking weren't insects... A black widow (Latrodectus hesperus) while we were camping at South Mountain State Park.... very poisonous. A flat millipede (Apheloria tigana) on a hike (seen both in South Mountain State Park a

Mouse: Today I was fortunate enough to go on a 7 mile hike as a component of our hiking merit badge.  Bobcat and Wolf accompanied and we trekked into the Eno River State Park on a beautiful Sunday morning with a cool breeze and a light rain.  We decided to enter at the Pump Station Trail-head and connect with the Laurel Bluff Trail before looping back the way we came. Wolf: Side note: the Laurel Buffs Trail is kinda confusing, because it actually is three distinct parts, and it's all part of the Mountains to Sea trail. That's fairly unimportant, but it's mostly cool because we got to spend some time on the MST today, which makes me really happy. We hope to hike the full thing when it's finished as footpaths, someday (of note, over the last ten years or so, each year about 15 miles of footpaths have been added to the path; they have almost 700 miles of footpaths now, with an additional 500 of connecting roads...so it will take some time...). Additional side note: the b