Shared by Laura Boaggio - AmeriCorps, as Guest Blogger.

There is a scene to behold at Hungry Mother State Park: a black bear standing tall, a turkey mid-flight, an eager snapping turtle stretching toward anyone who gets near. You might think this takes place deep in the woods, but it can actually be found inside the visitor center doors. Don’t worry though— most of the animals aren’t alive. 

Hungry Mother State Park spent the last six months renovating the Virginia Animal Display found in the park’s Discovery Center. The display contains taxidermy animals and plants native to the park, as well as three live critters.

The Virginia Animal Display taken on June 13, 2016 in Hungry Mother State Park’s Discovery Center. 

The newly renovated Virginia Animal Display taken on May 5, 2021 in Hungry Mother State Park’s Discovery Center. 

In December 2019, Chief Ranger of Visitor Experience Tanya Hall and Park Manager Andrew Philpot submitted a grant to the Garden Club of Virginia through the Friends of Hungry Mother State Park. The park found out they received a $5,000 Garden Club of Virginia 2020 Centennial Project grant in March 2020.

Chief Ranger Hall got to work constructing the display in October 2020, finishing up late April 2021. Employees across the park helped with construction, including maintenance workers, volunteers and interpretive rangers. 

Trees reach the ceiling of the building, decorated with local birds such as cardinals, hawks and a barred owl peeking down from the rafters. The display stretches along the back wall, with a seven-foot black bear standing guard at the exit door.  

The taxidermied animals were donated to Hungry Mother either from the Department of Wildlife Resources or from local individuals/park staff, some of whom picked animals off the road after an accident. The great blue heron and mink are new additions which were both donated after such events. Watch for additional animals to be added to the display throughout the year.

A new addition to the taxidermied animals on display— a great blue heron, standing in a “pool” of polyurethane covered rocks. 

An increase in tourism and transportation in natural areas, such as Virginia state parks, can lead to more wildlife-vehicle collisions. It’s important to drive slow at night and keep an eye out for critters wandering into the road—at parks and in your own neighborhood. 

The new display was built around the framework of the previous one. Most of the animals and trees made a reappearance, however new flora can be seen poking out. Real moss was collected on-site and attached to a hillside constructed of grout, paint and soil. 

The rocky bed connects to a 200-gallon tank situated on the ground, where an eight-year-old snapping turtle swims around. With the renovation came the installation of two running-water features that resemble a river cascading into the turtle’s tank. 

A raccoon and beaver standing overtop the new running-water features. The display contains pieces of beaver-chewed wood found by a maintenance worker. 

The park’s snapping turtle, Junior, poses in his new tank. 

In the turtle’s previous 150-gallon tank, you can catch a glimpse of a flat, loose-skinned salamander camouflaged under river rocks. Hungars, the park’s five-year-old Eastern hellbender, is nocturnal and usually hides during the day. Eastern hellbenders breathe through their skin and therefore require clean well-oxygenated water to live. 

The Center for Biological Diversity says that 78% of historically known hellbender populations have disappeared or are in decline. According to its website, “they face threats from chemical pollution and sedimentation caused by development, deforestation and dams.” The bigger tank gives Hungars more room to explore and more rocks to hide under— peer inside and you might see a crayfish or two wandering around before becoming dinner. 

The display is open to the public, but please stay behind the rail and do not touch display objects.  We encourage visitors to stop by and take a peek at the new additions— and then search around the park with your newfound knowledge of local flora and fauna to see what you can discover.

A striped skunk hangs out overtop of the newly constructed riverbed, hiding behind a tree stump.