Philppe Cousteau at Riverbanks Zoo

Today I met Philippe Cousteau, the grandson of famous oceanographer, Jaques Cousteau. Philippe was filming an episode of Riverbanks Roundup premiering on SCETV later this year. Me and the other members of the Riverbanks Kids Commission will be on the program asking questions and working on a river clean-up project with Philippe. I will keep you posted about when the TV show will be on.

King Penguins at Riverbanks

This week our Riverbanks Kids' Commission got to meet some King Penguins. I got to pet one named SCOUT. Penguins mate for life. Scout followed his mate around. They were very playful and very fun...and VERY LOUD!

Naturalist Tom Mancke

In March, our Webelos scout den worked on earning our Naturalist badges. Naturalist Tom Mancke came out to help us. He brought lots of great stuff, like a monkey skull, a blood stone, and a beaver tail. He even showed us how to make use of items in nature, like how to make a knife out of a piece of quartz or start a fire with flint and steel. It was the best pack meeting ever.

Riverbanks Zoo Kids' Commission

This year I was selected to be on the first ever Riverbanks Zoo Kids' Commission. This is a group of 9 kids who help make decisions for the zoo. The commission elected me to be the chairman, which is a real honor. In December we were invited to the opening night of The Lights Before Christmas and were introduced to the board members and sponsors. Here I am with Satch Krantz (the zoo's CEO),some of the other Kids' Commission members, and checking out the light with my sister.

A Nature walk with Rudy Mancke

In November, I went on a great Nature walk with Rudy Mancke, South Carolina ETV's famous Naturalist. Congaree National Park sponsors this event as the annual Harry Hampton Memorial Walk. It was a cold, rainy day, but it was an interesting walk and Mr. Mancke shared information about SC plants and wildlife. He was very nice and wise. Hopefully, we can do it again next year and it wont rain and we'll be able to see more animals.

Repticon 2009

We checked out Repticon, the exoctic reptile show, when it came to Columbia. Here are some pictures:

Tree Frog