Lake Mattamuskeet Wildlife RefugeThis website is for the purpose of learning about "Lake Mattamuskeet: A National Wildlife Refuge" by: Rachel Carson\ |
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Rachel Carson (1907-1964)
Rachel Carson was born in 1907 in a very small town in Pennsylvania. She got her love for nature and wildlife at a very young age from her mother. In college she studied as a writter and in marine biology. She wrote several naratives and stories throughout the course of her life. To me, this narrative is the most interesting because like Carson, I also have personal ties with Lake Mattamuskeet. For nearly sixteen years Carson worked as editor in chief for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Rachel Carson has written several narratives and stories, all of which are centered around nature. Rachel Carson died in 1964 of breast cancer.   |
Summary of the Text: Lake Mattamuskeet is a national wildlife refuge that throughout the course of any single year houses more that 200 species of birds and waterfowl. The lake also happens to be the biggest in the state of North Carolina and is also open to fisherman, most fisherman target crappie when fishing in the lake. Mattamuskeet is very shallow, usually no more than 3 feet deep at any given spot at any given time. This makes it very useful for the waterfowl that forage on the various plants and weeds that are planted there for them. Some people ask why is there a national refuge for the wildlife and why is the refuge any better than the wild? I think that Rachel Carson said it best herself "By cultivating or managing the marshlands by scientifically tested principles, the land within the refuge is made many times as productive of natural foods as outside areas not under management." This magnificant lake has a visitor lodge with an amazing viewing tower. Atop this tower, one can see nearly the entire refuge. Anyone who visits this place must make it a point to climb up the tower and see for themselves. But however for me, my favorite viewing area of this lake is from a duck blind! The interesting thing about this lake is the fact that it is drained diring the summer months in order to be planted with weeds such as widgeon grass, millet, corn and duck weed just to name a few. This process helps to ensure that when the winter migration of waterfowl arrives there is a plethora of different foods to help with the nutrition of the fowl. An interesting fact that not many people know is that a duck can loose up to on third of its body weight during the corse of their migration. This is another reason that Lake Mattamuskeet is so vital to the health of the waterfowl that travel the Atlantic Flyway. Throughout the entire text by Rachel Carson, she mentions several different types of waterfowl. In my opinion her favorite of them all is what she called the "whistling swans", which are in the picture below. An interesting fact that most people don't know about these swans is that they are found throughout North America and Canada and they also mate for life. Lake Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge is located in Hyde County, North Carolina between Swan Quarter and Lake Phelps.  |
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