Posted: Friday, December 26, 2014
HOLLISTER — The red
wolf, after decades of being gone from eastern North Carolina, is
making a comeback, according to Sandra Fambrough, park ranger at Medoc
Mountain State Park, who is hosting a lesson on what the resurgence
means.
Taking place at 2 p.m. Saturday
at Medoc, 1541 Medoc State Park Road in Hollister, Fambrough said she
will aid in educating people through her program. She said this is the
first time the “Foxes, Coyotes and Wolves, oh my!” existed, and it was
created to teach several topics, such as the differences and
similarities between foxes, coyotes and wolves. Fambrough added she will
also explain why red wolves are a benefit to the area.
For example, she said with the
lack of predators, such as the red wolf, smaller creatures like the
mouse, rabbit or rat are left unchecked and become too populous. These
smaller animals may harbor several diseases detrimental to humans,
Fambrough added. “Every animal, big or small, has an important part to fill that niche in the environment,” she said.
Though she said she’s had people
encounter the red wolf return with fear, red wolves also hunt the more
dangerous animals in the area, such as coyotes.
The lesson will also include what
landowners can expect when red wolves start being reintroduced more and
more, but for now, they are in the wild only in Dare, Washington,
Terrell, Hite and Beaufort counties. “And though we are not near those
counties, if the red wolf is able to make a comeback, it’ll eventually
be in Halifax County,” she said.
Fambrough encouraged families to
come out Saturday afternoon for an informative indoor lesson on what the
red wolf has in store for North Carolina. People can expect several
pictures and animal pelts to experience during the lesson. “To me, it’s a very beneficial animal to have here,” she said.
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