Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary - Wildlife

Wildlife

Due to its wide variety of habitats, the Daniel Webster Wildlife sanctuary attracts a great variety of species of mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians.

Mammals

White-tailed deer live on the sanctuary and in the surrounding open space parcels throughout the year. They can often be seen grazing in the back fields at sunrise. Coyotes, red fox and gray fox prey on mice and voles on the sanctuary, and are visible during daylight hours from time to time. fishers, short-tailed weasels, gray squirrels, red squirrels, field mice, and meadow voles have been seen on the sanctuary trails. Northern river otters occasionally appear in the Green Harbor River.

Birds

The Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary has historically been home to a large colony of purple martins. And, because the sanctuary is one of the last remaining managed cultural grasslands in Massachusetts, species that rely on such habitats breed there in the spring and summer, most notably bobolinks. Mute Swans and several species of ducks and geese feed on the pond. Ducks, geese, herons, egrets and a wide variety of shorebirds visit the wet panne, while several species of birds of prey, most notably red-tailed hawks and northern harriers, feed on the small rodents that breed in the grasslands. Several species of owls have historically roosted in the red maple swamps during the winter, including great horned, barred, long-eared, short-eared, eastern screech and Saw-whet Owls. The sanctuary’s plants provide ample food for warblers, sparrows and many other species during migration.

Reptiles and Amphibians

Several species of salamanders, frogs and toads can be seen on the Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary. Spring peepers can be heard in chorus in season. Snapping turtles can be found in the Green Harbor River, and Eastern painted turtles often bask in the wet panne. Several common species of snakes inhabit the sanctuary as well.