Wildlife Park opening April 15

The Maine Wildlife Park, located on Route 26 in Gray, will open for the 2017 season on Saturday, April 15th at 9:30 am – just in time for the Patriots Day holiday on Monday, April 17th and school vacation week!

Park staff has been working diligently to remove enough snow for paths to be cleared, most wildlife exhibits to be open, and the parking lot and access road passable! The turtle ponds may still be frozen over and the nature trails may have too much snow on them to be passable, but visitors will be excited to see a new beaver in her pond in the furbearer exhibit!

A variety of new and returning weekend events are planned for the season, beginning Saturday May 6th with a ‘Creatures of the Night’ display, associated with the Park’s newest exhibit featuring nocturnal animals.

Further on through the season you can practice Archery and Laser Rifle target shooting, meet Game Wardens and Warden authors on Warden Service Day; experience Mr. Drew & his Animals too; learn about Portland’s famous International Cryptozoology Museum or enjoy a ‘night visit’ with Northern Stars Planetarium. The Bug Man, New England Mineral Association, Wildlife Encounters, Enchanted Forests and Honeybees will return and be featured as Saturday programs. Favorites like the annual Open House, Pow Wow, Chainsaw Artists, and Rick Charette will all be back as well. And Harvest-Fest will be expanded to 2 full weekend days in October. Plan to purchase your Family Season Pass now so you don’t miss any of the fun; and be sure to pick up an Event Calendar! Keep up with current photos, stories and events on Facebook too.

Many families cannot wait to visit their favorite animals after the long winter, but close to 30,000 followers have ‘kept in touch’ with our wildlife via Facebook over the winter, ‘liking’ and commenting on photos posted of our wildlife as they adapted to winter snow and cold. But everyone’s ready to see the moose, bears, lynx, cougar, eagles, owls, and more again in person!

For more information about any of these programs, please call the Maine Wildlife Park at 207-657-4977; or visit us online at www.mainewildlifepark.com, www.mefishwildlife.com or on Facebook!