Updated Monday, March 30: NC State Parks status during COVID-19 pandemic
Posted on: Monday, March 30, 2020 - 2:54pm |
Ask a Ranger: Winter Wonderland
CLOSED TODAY
Contact the park
919-676-1027
falls.lake@ncparks.gov
Addresses
Visitor center
13304 Creedmoor Road
Wake Forest, NC 27587
GPS: 36.0116, -78.6888
Beaverdam
14600 Creedmoor Road
Wake Forest, NC 27587
GPS: 36.0362, -78.6850
B.W. Wells campground
1630 Bent Road
Wake Forest, NC 27587
GPS: 35.9861, -78.6315
Highway 50
13900 Creedmoor Road
Wake Forest, NC 27587
GPS: 36.0216, -78.6902
Holly Point campground
14424 New Light Road
Wake Forest, NC 27587
GPS: 36.0100, -78.6575
Rolling View
4201 Baptist Road
Durham, NC 27703
GPS: 36.0085, -78.7291
Sandling Beach
14601 Creedmoor Road
Wake Forest, NC 27587
GPS: 36.0423, -78.6984
Shinleaf campground
13708 New Light Road
Wake Forest, NC 27587
GPS: 35.9938, -78.6595
Hours
►
- November to February:
8:00am to 6:00pm
- March to April:
8:00am to 8:00pm
- May to August:
8:00am to 9:00pm
- September to October:
8:00am to 8:00pm
- Closed Christmas Day
- Not all day-use areas are open year-round. Please check the park's operating season schedule for dates.
►
- All campground gates have 24-hour access when the campground is operating.
- Please check the park's operating season schedule for dates.
- Closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day
►
- September 3, 2019
to April 11, 2020:
Open Monday to Friday:
8:00am to 5:00pm
closed on state holidays
- April 12, 2020 to
September 7, 2020:
Open daily:
8:00am to 5:00pm
Operating season
Ask a Ranger: Winter Wonderland
Click the player above to listen to the episode. Read the article below to learn more about the animals interviewed in the podcast.
Winter Wonderland
Winter
J. Williams, Kerr Lake State Recreation Area
Here in North Carolina, there are many ways for the animals that live around here to survive and thrive through chilly times. In this episode of Ask a Ranger Podcast, we interview four of our animal friends and ask them: “How do you survive a Carolina winter?"
Four main ways we encountered were: moving or migrating to a warmer climate, eating the food sources available, stashing food in caches to access them throughout the winter, and sleeping through most of the winter.
To add to this episode, we thought we would give you a short and fun biography of each of our North Carolina fauna guests from this episode.
Bruce the Goose
Canada goose
D. Mumford, Falls Lake State Recreation Area
Canada goose – Branta canadensis
Favorite food: We are exclusively grazers of grass, grain and berries
Favorite hangout: Any watering hole, really
Favorite song: "Free Bird," of course. I'm a classic rock kind of goose.
Favorite hobbies: Grazing in fields, dabbling for aquatic grub and gabbing with other "snowbirds" that hang out here in North Carolina for the winter
Favorite movie: "Fly Away Home"
Tallula the Turkey
Wild turkey
J. Phillips, William B. Umstead State Park
Wild turkey – Meleagris gallopavo
Favorite food: Acorns, berries, snakes and crickets
Favoirte hangout: Oh, we move between Forest Edge Cafe, Grassland Park and Mature Forest Disco (so we can shake our tail feathers)
Favorite movie: "The One That Got Away: Thanksgiving Special"
Favorite song: "Let's Turkey Trot"
Describe yourself in three words: famulous, phenomenal and friendly, of course!
Gilda the Gray Squirrel
Eastern gray squirrel
J. Brown, Eno River State Park
Eastern gray squirrel – Sciurus carolinensis
Favorite food: Acorns, hazelnuts, flowers and berries
Favorite hangout: Tree Top Tea Room
Favorite book: "What Squirrels Do When No One's Looking" (by our very own Ranger Nick)
Favorite hobbies: Scampering... no, no... jumping from limb to limb... no, no... chasing my friends. Wait, what was the question?
Who is your hero?: Rocket "Rocky" J. Squirrel, from "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle" TV show, of course!
Terrance the Turtle
Eastern box turtle
J. Phillips, Falls Lake State Recreation Area
Eastern box turtle – Terrapene carolina carolina
Favorite food: Mushrooms, worms, flowers, beetles
Favorite hangout: Oh, the bottomland forest seems to suit me just fine
Favorite quote: "It never hurts to keep looking for sunshine." – Eeyore
Favorite movie: "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"
What is your best feature?: The way I close myself up entirely into my shell when some park ranger comes to bother me
Lastly, at the end of the pocdcast, we answered a question from one of our audience members, Autumn: What is the coolest wildlife you've ever seen?
Ranger Jess's was the daring jumping spider:
Daring jumping spider
J. Phillips, William B. Umstead State Park
And Ranger Crystal's favorite wildlife was the fox squirrel:
Eastern fox squirrel
A.S. Hartley, Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve
About the Ask a Ranger Podcast
Ranger Crystal and Ranger Jess host the North Carolina State Parks Ask a Ranger Podcast series.
Email them at askaranger@ncparks.gov.
For a full list of episodes, visit our BuzzSprout page.
Click here to subscribe to the podcast with Apple iTunes.
Click here to subscribe to the podcast with RSS feed.
