Tag Archives: wildlife

Double the Foxes, Double the Fun!

A big welcome to the newest member of the Drumlin Farm animal ambassador family, a female red fox! Like our resident male fox, she was found as an orphaned kit (young fox) in Illinois. Upon her discovery in February 2018 she weighed only 1.5 pounds. During her rehabilitation, she became habituated to her human caregivers and was deemed non-releasable, unable to survive on her own in the wild. She’s grown a lot since then and is adjusting well to the East Coast move, now weighing in at a healthy 10 pounds.

The new female fox joins the ranks of the many honorable animal ambassadors that call Drumlin Farm home and work to connect our visitors to the natural world in unique ways. Many Drumlin Farm visitors have never even seen a fox in person before, and know surprisingly little about these sly canines. Next time you visit, we invite you stop by the New England Wildlife Exhibit to see them up close. You can distinguish the female from the male by the relatively smaller white tip on her tail. As foxes are mostly nocturnal, the pair are often most active during early in the morning and at night, but our two foxes can regularly be seen exploring the exhibit, observing the cows in the pasture, or napping throughout the day. Check out the Fox Cam in our exhibit space to see the night-vision camera collecting data on their after-hours behavior. You can also explore inside our newly opened Fox Den viewing area, with its plexiglass window for a clear look inside the enclosure. Either way, don’t miss your chance to say hello to the newest member of the Drumlin Farm family!

Marvelous March

There’s no better feeling than the sun on your skin and fresh air in your lungs on one of the first warm days of spring. Don’t blink though – before you know it the season will be over! Live March to the fullest by celebrating all it has to offer, including sheep shearing and lamb season, Saint Patrick’s Day, wildlife observation and care, and all things maple.

  1. Maple Magic – Friday, March 2 / 3:30 pm-5:00 pm (families with children ages 0-12). It’s maple sugaring time! Visit the relaxing maple grove to check the taps and taste some sap. Learn how we’ve made maple syrup from past to present and delight your taste buds with a sweet maple treat.
  2.  Homeschool Maple Science and History – Wednesday, March 7 / 1:30 pm-4:30 pm (children ages 5-12). Especially designed for homeschooled children, you’ll learn about the structure and seasonal adaptations of maple trees as we visit the sugar shack and experiment with sap, syrup and sugar. We’ll venture out to the sugar bush, collect sap, learn about sugaring equipment of today and yesteryear, and enjoy a maple treat.
  3. Sip Some Sap Thursday, March 8 / 10:00 am – 11:30 am (families with children 3-12 years old). Listen to a story about maple sugaring and take a walk out to our sugar bush. We’ll check out the evaporator to see how sap is turned into syrup, and get to try some ourselves.

    Vacation Week Programs captivated by what sap looks like before it becomes syrup.

  4. March Into Spring SeriesFridays, March 9, 16, & 23 / 3:30-5:00 pm (families with children ages 3-6). Learn about sugar and syruping, spring chickens, and wool in this fun family series that covers everything great about March. Play together while exploring the farm and meeting the animals that call it home.
  5. Sap-to-Syrup Farmer’s BreakfastSaturday & Sunday, March 10 & 11 / 9:00 am – 1:00 pm (adults and families with children of all ages). This annual celebration is the tastiest of them all! Learn about the maple sugaring process while enjoying a delicious breakfast of pancakes, real maple syrup, and Drumlin Farm’s own sausage and roasted potatoes. Drumlin Farm made syrup will also be available for purchase.

    Visit our sugar bush to check the sap buckets and enjoy this calm stand of trees.

  6. St. Paddy’s Party – Thursday, March 15 / 10:00-11:30 am (families with children ages 0-8). Did you know that ‘drumlin’ is a Gaelic word for “littlest ridge?” We’ll plant shamrocks, greet a snake, and enjoy some boxty, a traditional Irish potato treat. We might even dance a jig or two to celebrate this greenest of holidays.
  7. Afternoon Chores & More – Saturday, March 17 / 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm (families with children ages 4-12). Get ready for chore time! Walk the site in a farmer’s shoes, helping us care for livestock. We will feed chickens and collect eggs, and bring hay to the sheep, goats, and cows. After finishing, we’ll treat ourselves to a farm snack.
  8. Spring Wildlife CaretakersSundays, March 18, April 15, & May 20 / 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm (teens ages 13-17 years old). The first class of our ever-popular teen wildlife group starts in March – perfect for anyone thinking about a career in wildlife care, or that has a passion for animals. Join other like-minded teens to learn about wildlife health, animal enrichment, diet requirements, food preparation, and other related topics. Go behind the scenes and get a close-up experience under the guidance of our wildlife care staff.
  9. Bread & Bunnies – Thursday, March 22 / 10:00-11:30 am (families with children ages 0-7). Hop on down to the kitchen for some hare-raising fun. We’ll visit a rabbit on the farmyard then head into the kitchen to bake bunny’s favorite treat: carrot bread!
  10. WoolapaloozaSaturday, March 24 / 10:00am-4:00 pm (adults and families with children of all ages). Visit our newborn lambs, see live sheep shearing and herding demonstrations, shop local fiber artisan crafts, and more! Woolapalooza is our annual celebration of all things wool, and a fabulously fun time to visit the farm and participate in our mission to connect people with nature.

    Welcome our new baby lambs to the farm at Woolapalooza!

  11. Birding Great Bay and the New Hampshire Coast – Sunday, March 25 / 7:00 am-5:00 pm (adults). Explore an area few Massachusetts birders visit. We’ll start at Great Bay, 5000 acres of tidal water in New Hampshire, then follow the coastline to Salisbury, Massachusetts, stopping at vantage points to look for sea ducks, loons, grebes, snow bunting, horned lark, bald eagle, snowy owl, and wintering shorebirds.
  12. Simple Cheesemaking – Saturday, March 31, 2018 12:00-4:00 pm (adults). Cheesemaking is delicious, fun, and surprisingly simple! During this workshop, you’ll make and sample several different cheeses, learning about their makeup and history. You’ll leave with more samples, recipes, resources, and the skills you need to pursue cheesemaking, one of the oldest forms of food preservation, on your own.

    Learn the skills to enjoy fresh homemade cheese whenever you want!

 

Meet our Summer Wildlife Care Interns

Post by Drumlin Farm Wildlife Program Coordinator Flavio Sutti and Drumlin Farm Wildlife Care Technician Brittany Knowles

Summer is generally seen as a time of respite from school, but for five ambitious college students who recently joined our Wildlife Care Internship program, learning doesn’t stop to take a breather.Maggie with Kestrel

Since 2012, Drumlin Farm has offered college students a unique opportunity to work alongside our staff to learn how to care for more than 30 species of native New England wildlife. As part of the program, students also learn how to conduct wildlife education programs for the public.

This summer our interns come to us from Mount Ida College, Middlebury College, Brandeis University, and the University of Maine. On any given morning Maggie, Bess, Jenny, Nathalie, and Kristina can be found atop bird hill, assisting volunteers in cleaning the raptor enclosures. They might also be spotted co-presenting on woodchucks, opossums, kestrels, or screech owls alongside our education staff.

interns_kristina_bess_maggieWhen not interacting with the public, the interns spend most of their time at Drumlin Farm’s Wildlife Care Center, an area of the sanctuary closed to public, where our educational animal ambassadors live. Here they prepare food, clean animal enclosures, and assist with daily husbandry tasks such as rearranging enclosures and weighing and training animals.

Our Wildlife Care Internship program is offered to local college students each semester and provides an excellent way for students to fulfill academic requirements. The hiring process for our fall 2015 internship program will begin mid-July; be sure to check the website at that time to learn how to apply!