Wapack National Wildlife Refuge

Wapack National Wildlife Refuge
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)
Map of the United States
Location	Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States
Nearest city	Peterborough, New Hampshire
Coordinates	42.88341°N 71.86618°W / 42.88341; -71.86618
Area	1,672 acres (6.77 km2)
Established	1972
Governing body	U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Website	Wapack National Wildlife Refuge

Wapack National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge of the United States located in southern New Hampshire. It was the state's first refuge and was established through a donation by Lawrence and Lorna Marshall in 1972. The 1,672-acre (677 ha) refuge is located about 20 miles (32 km) west of Nashua, New Hampshire and encompasses the 2,278-foot (694 m) North Pack Monadnock Mountain.

A 3-mile (5 km) segment of the 21-mile (34 km) Wapack Trail passes through the refuge and provides wide views of the surrounding mountains.

The refuge lies in the towns of Greenfield, Lyndeborough, and Temple, and is administered by the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge in Newburyport, Massachusetts.

Nature

The refuge protects diverse habitat types, including northern hardwood-conifer, hemlock-hardwood, and spruce-fir forests and woodlands, oldfields, scrub-shrub habitat, and rock ledges with talus.

Birds

The refuge is a popular hawk migration area and provides nesting habitat for numerous migratory songbirds such as the American tree sparrow, Swainson's thrush, magnolia warbler, crossbills, pine grosbeaks and white-throated sparrow.

Other birds observed on the refuge during a 2002 breeding season survey:

• Ovenbird
• Hermit thrush
• Red-eyed vireo
• Canada warbler
• Blackpoll warbler
• Bay-breasted warbler
• Black-throated blue warbler
• Black-throated green warbler
• Blackburnian warbler
• Golden-crowned kinglet
• Scarlet tanager
• Rose-breasted grosbeak
• Yellow-bellied sapsucker
• Red-tailed hawk
• Sharp-shinned hawk
• Peregrine falcon
• Ruffed grouse

Mammals

The refuge provides habitat for many mammal species, some of which include:

• Red squirrel
• Gray squirrel
• White-footed mouse
• Deer mouse
• Woodland vole
• Porcupine
• Eastern chipmunk
• White-tailed deer
• Moose
• Snowshoe hare
• Bobcat
• Gray fox
• Red fox
• Coyote
• Black bear

Reptiles and amphibians

Some amphibian species on the refuge:

• Red back salamander
• Red-spotted newt
• American toad
• Spring peeper
• Pickerel frog
• Bullfrog
• Leopard frog
• Painted turtle
• Wood turtle
• Milk snake
• Garter snake
• Ribbon snake

Invertebrates

Invertebrates on the refuge are a food source for many other animal species. Insects in the area include butterflies, dragonflies, beetles, wasps, and ants.

References

• Refuge website

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.