Ten-year-old Eric Streeter crosses a tree bridge as he and other campers trek through the woods to base camp at the Pet World Nature Preserve on Thursday, June 25, 2015.

Ambling through the trails of Pet World’s nature preserve north of Lawrence Friday, a Pet World Wilderness Camp attendee hollered to Pet World co-owner Sherry Emerson, “I think I stepped in poison ivy!”

Emerson, leading a pack of five children along the nature trail, bent over to a mud puddle and rinsed the girl’s leg. There’s no running water or electricity — other than solar power — at the nature preserve, offering the city kids of Lawrence a chance to return to nature, Emerson said.

“It’s the kind of fun we had growing up,” Emerson said.

When a fire ruined Pet World, a beloved local pet store, on Memorial Day, among Emerson’s worries was how the business would run the annual four summer camps that have brought kids so much joy over the years. The camps typically sell out in days, if not in hours.

Camper Corey Maples, 11, said he was worried, too. Corey, of Eudora, said he had attended another Pet World camp in 2014 and was looking forward to Wilderness Camp all year.

“It’s my last year to go, since I’m 11,” Corey said. “I’m practically a teenager.”

Spencer Wheat, 10, who has been attending Pet World camps since he was 4, said he was heartbroken when he learned of the fire.

“I was really sad,” Spencer said. “But then later when my mom told me I could still go, I was excited. I told all my friends.”

Each June, Pet World hosts several camps: Critter Camp for 3- to 6-year-olds, Animal Camp for ages 7 through 9, and Wilderness Camp for ages 8 through 10, the last of which is based out of the Pet World nature preserve.

“Because four of our five camps take place primarily on site, we had to cancel everything but Wilderness Camp,” Emerson said. “Even though we take field trips, the Critter Camp and Animal Camp experience just can’t be duplicated without Pet World.”

Campers registered for the critter and animal camps had their fees refunded. They also were invited to the Pet World nature preserve and tortoise farm to take a field trip that the children would have had during the camp.

“For two beautiful hours we got to share the tortoise farm, feed the tortoises, and even watch some kids complete their first crossing of the locally famous tree bridge,” Emerson said.

It was difficult to cancel the other camps, Emerson said. They have meant a lot to area youngsters over the years, as evidenced by a scrapbook full of camp memories that camper’s parents made for the Emersons after the fire, which killed an undisclosed number of animals. Several of the camp counselors had participated in the camps when they were children, as well.

Even through the stress of rising from the ashes over the past month, mourning their losses, advocating for stricter city and fire codes and opening a miniature temporary store in the Malls Shopping Center at 711 W. 23rd St., the Emersons kept their promise to those third- through fifth-graders like Corey.

Book bags, water bottles and T-shirts all stamped with the Pet World logo for campers were damaged in the fire, Emerson said, but vendors generously replaced them just in time.

Last week, the children played with Pet World staff’s animals at the temporary store and packed healthy lunches, then loaded into vehicles out to the nature preserve. There, they learned about everything from tent pitching to fishing to tree climbing.

“You wouldn’t think you’d have to teach a kid tree climbing, but suburbs and tiny trees,” Emerson said.

Also on the menu: trail hiking and campfires, plant identification, snake hunting and navigation using the sun. Several kids swam among bullfrogs in “Frog Pond.” Emerson and camp counselors teach the children the ins and outs of nature in the immersive experience.

“It’s super important for kids to know these things, like which snakes are poisonous and which ones are not,” Emerson said. “They learn you don’t have to kill every snake you see.”

At the end of the week, camper Lia Wilson, 9, of Lawrence, said she was grateful the camp continued because she was “scared they wouldn’t rebuild.”

“I’m really excited because camp is the one thing I look forward to during summer,” Lia said.

Playing with a baby opossum named “Gus-Gus” at the temporary store location Thursday morning, Lia said Pet World and the wilderness camp taught her a deeper love for animals.

“My favorite animals are the opossum and sea turtle, but I like all things pretty much,” Wilson said. “I definitely want to work at Pet World when I grow up.”

After the last camper went home Friday evening, Emerson reflected.

“Wilderness Camp has been great for us this week,” she said. “Something finally feels normal.”