Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge, North Carolina

Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge is on North Carolina’s largest lake, Lake Mattamuskeet, which is 40,000 acres. The lake is 14 miles long and 5 miles wide and varies in depth from 0.5 to 4 feet with an average depth of 1.5 feet. The Refuge was established in 1934 and consists of 50,180 acres of open water, marsh, timber, and croplands. It provides habitat for migratory birds and other wildlife. Over 100,000 tundra swan, Canada geese, snow geese and 18 species of ducks overwinter on the refuge annually.

You can click on any of the pictures to enlarge them.
     

We’re here at the refuge workamping for the month of December. We were told we’d be working 24 hours, with Curt doing maintenance and me in the gift shop/visitor center. This first weekend we worked with another couple who have been here since November 1st. There isn't a lot of maintenance on the weekend so the guys were in the visitor center with us when they weren’t busy. The office people, biologists, and maintenance people don’t work weekends. We aren’t sure what our schedule will be after the weekend.

     

We have a full hookup site, concrete pad, beside four employee houses across from a canal. There is spotty cell service throughout the refuge, sometimes 3G 3 bar at our coach. We can text and have been able to use our cell phones. We can usually use the internet on our phones, but it’s pretty slow with our wifi hotspot on the computer. At the visitor center there is no cell service at all but we can hook up to their internet.