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The Sunkhaze Meadows National Wildlife Refuge is still a wild place, with few visitor facilities. The 11,270-acre refuge offers hiking on old logging trails, canoeing, fishing, hunting, birdwatching and cross-country skiing.
The refuge, established in 1988, skirts Sunkhaze Stream in the town of Milford, a few miles north of Bangor. The name Sunkhaze is derived from the Abenaki phrase Wetchi-sam-kassek that means "concealing outlet," which refers to the stream's hidden confluence with the Penobscot River.
The refuge surrounds nearly five miles of Sunkhaze Stream and another 14 miles of tributary streams. Major habitats include forested uplands, alder and willow river zones and cedar swamps, as well as the bog for which the refuge is named.
The bog is the second-largest peatland in Maine, with some peat deposits reaching depths of 15 feet or more. In the early 1980s, the peat mining industry proposed extracting the peat for use as heating fuel. The plan failed, but the attempt heightened public awareness of this unique area, and it was then designated a national wildlife refuge.
The primary goal of the refuge is to maintain the integrity of the peatland ecosystem and provide a biologically diverse area for native wildlife and plants.
Many wildlife species are attracted to Sunkhaze Meadows, including beavers whose lodges and dams are readily encountered during a trip down any of the refuge's waterways. Moose are often seen feeding on the edge of the bog in willow or alder thickets. White-tailed deer, warier than moose, are observed occasionally on the perimeter roads in early morning.
Black bears, coyotes, river otters and fishers are other common species, though they are rarely seen.
Smaller mammals found on the refuge include snowshoe hares, red squirrels, porcupines, muskrats, and several species of mice and voles. The smallest of this group provide a valuable food source for the refuge's raptor population that includes northern harriers, broad-winged hawks, red-tailed hawks and kestrels. Owls, including the great horned and barred, are common during certain seasons.
The vast expanse of wetlands in the bog and riparian zones attract a host of waterfowl and other water birds. Several species of ducks, including the black duck, wood duck, hooded merganser, mallard and blue-winged teal are seen during spring and summer. Great blue herons, American bitterns, and double-crested cormorants are three of the larger water birds that inhabit the refuge.
Virginia and Sora rails, spotted sandpipers, greater yellowlegs and longbilled dowitchers are some of the smaller bird species found here.
Maine hosts more warbler species than most other states. Many of these and other beautiful songbirds can be seen and heard here. More than 200 species of birds have been documented at the refuge.
Outdoor Activities |
Search for the delicate showy ladyslipper, which is endangered in Maine.
The green snake is one of the refuge's reclusive residents.
Red fox are found on the refuge.
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