The word caratunk in the Algonquin
language means “where the rivers meet.” It’s an apt name for Audubon’s very
popular wildlife refuge in Seekonk, where Cole Brook intersects with an unnamed
stream amid ponds, forests, meadows and wetlands. The Caratunk Wildlife Refuge
has experienced a number of improvements in recent years, making it an even
more valuable site for environmental education, wildlife watching, or a quiet
hike.
In July, the property was ablaze
with wildflowers in the meadow just beyond the parking lot. Asters, milkweed,
black-eyed susans and many others fought for space among flowering shrubs and
berry-covered vines while a dozen pairs of purple martins were busy raising
their families in the gourd houses that serve as the centerpiece of the first field.
House wrens, eastern bluebirds and tree swallows
appeared to have come to an agreement to share the numerous traditional
birdhouses scattered around the property, but
they weren’t quiet about it. Each
twittered and warbled as they staked a claim to one house or another and
defended it vigorously while racing about finding food for their growing young.
Butterflies and dragonflies made their presence known as well, as did several
large bullfrogs at Muskrat Pond – a reliable place to observe river otters –
and uncounted noisy catbirds. A green heron flew overhead and landed out of
sight in a wet corner of the property.
 |
| Hikers traverse Caratunk (Glenn Osmundson) |
Nate Chace has been visiting
Caratunk at least a couple times each month for many years to hike and commune
with nature. A member of Audubon’s board of directors who has been involved in
hiking and trail work his entire adult life, Chace appreciates the easy access
to the property from his home in Riverside and the extensive trail network
through varied habitat. But he also recognized that the trails could be
somewhat confusing, and he occasionally bumped into worried hikers who had been
wandering around aimlessly trying to find their way back to their vehicles.
“The trails were a bit of a mess,”
he said. “One day I talked to a guy in the woods who said he liked to forge his
own trail, and later that day I saw two women who said they only walk in the
field because they get lost when they go in the woods. It was obvious that
something had to be done about the trails.”
Chace wasn’t the only one who
recognized the problem.
“We just had too many trails, many
of which cut across sensitive habitat like out in the bog, and sometimes people
got turned around and easily confused trying to find their way,” said Scott
Ruhren, Audubon’s senior director of conservation.
“Certain trails became trails not
because we planned it that way but because some groups always hiked a
particular route, and sometimes side trails were created and it all became
confusing,” added Executive Director Larry Taft. “Nate convinced me that we
needed a simpler system – a well-marked and very obvious trail system – and he
took it upon himself to make it happen.”
It took him about a year, but with
the help of fellow board member and cartographer Terry Meyer, Chace laid out a
simple loop trail that begins and ends at the parking lot, then added several
side loops that take visitors to notable features of the property, like Muskrat
Pond and a hemlock grove.
No new trails were blazed in the process, but
several old ones were closed and are being allowed to fill in with native
vegetation. A new trail map was produced as well, and several signs were
installed at trail intersections indicating “you are here” and providing GPS
coordinates.
“I wanted people to be comfortable
walking in the woods. That was my goal,” Chace said. “I wanted people to enjoy
a brand new experience and feel good about it, especially those who have never
been here before.”
The
Caratunk Wildlife Refuge was voted Audubon’s favorite refuge – by far – in a
2012 survey of Audubon members. Its popularity is due in part to its location
close to the metro Providence area, enabling a large segment of the population
to only have to travel a short distance to enjoy its trails and programs. The
four parcels that make up its approximately 200 acres were acquired between
1969 and 1986, most of it donated by Charles G. Greenhalgh. Even though the
property is across the Rhode Island border in Massachusetts, then-Audubon
executive director Al Hawkes recognized that its location was ideal, especially
since the only other public refuges Audubon owned at the...
Read the rest of the story in the summer 2019 issue of Audubon Report.
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