A Good Place to Hang

While Moose Hill is ever-moving forward, it is fun to poke through some of the past. While not every detail has been saved, there are various notes, articles, and pictures from over the years. This picture is truly one of my favorites – clearly this was a good place to hang out.

Taken in 1958 by Albert “Buzzy” Bussewitz, a former Moose Hill Sanctuary Director (1948-65), the handsome raccoon seems at ease on the arm of a sanctuary signpost. The picture found its way into a local newspaper, the Mansfield News, with an article: Moose Hill Sanctuary in Sharon, Habitat of  Endless Wonders of Nature in this Area.

At the time, the sanctuary protected just 250 acres, had only eight miles of trails, had 10 years of a successful natural history summer day camp for boys and girls under its belt, and, since 1916, 143 species of birds had been identified on site. Today, we protect 1,971 acres of land with another 302 acres held in conservation restriction, there are 25 miles of trails, we still have a very active day camp, and at least 180 species of birds have been identified on site.

In the newspaper article featuring the picture of the relaxed racoon above, Mr. Bussewitz summarized some of the activity at Moose Hill and concluded with some information about the summer camp program:

“The discoveries revolve about the birds, mammals, reptiles, insects, trees, flowers, rocks, minerals and weather forecasting…. The program is designed to bring to a youngster a larger world,…”

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. Registration for our 67th year of summer camp begins January 14.

Don’t forget to check out all of our great programs in our Winter/Spring catalog.

We look forward to seeing you at a program, visiting the Gallery, or out on the trails, soon!