Visit the Wildlife Commission’s State Fair Exhibit

B.L. Harris of Winterville shows off his State Fair button collection. Pick up this year’s button, the striped bass, at the Wildlife Commission exhibit.	Matthew Godfrey, sea turtle biologist, points out a model black rat snake emerging from a birdhouse. This and other wildlife models are on display in the Wildlife Commission’s exhibit.	Bob Curry, fisheries program manager, gives visitors a fish-identification lesson. Models of the 24 most popular freshwater fishes are on display at the Wildlife Commission’s exhibit through October 24.
Media: Please credit the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.

RALEIGH, N.C. (Oct. 15, 2004) — Focusing on North Carolina’s migratory wildlife, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission today opened its state fair exhibit featuring a free air rifle range, a wildlife memorabilia store, a mobile aquarium, and a series of displays depicting various migratory wildlife and their habitats.

Visitors to the Wildlife Commission’s main tent will move through a series of oversized photographs and habitat re-creations illustrating some of the migratory routes wildlife use when passing through North Carolina. The Commission constructed a handicapped-accessible boardwalk with informational signs mounted on the handrails to give visitors a chance to learn about some of these game and nongame species.

Highlights include a beach scene with loggerhead turtle hatchlings scurrying over a sand dune and a re-creation of the Roanoke River near Weldon, N.C., at springtime when river herring, shad, sturgeon and striped bass make their annual migratory spawning runs.

This year’s wildlife button — a free, traditional state fair keepsake — features a striped bass. Commission biologists, educators and administrative staff are on hand to answer questions, provide literature and staff the N.C. WILD Store where visitors can purchase posters, subscribe to Wildlife in North Carolina magazine or buy the Wildlife Commission’s award-winning calendar.

Wildlife officers from the Enforcement Division are staffing their free air rifle range where visitors not only get opportunities to interact with officers in person, but also learn more about firearms safety from trained professionals.

More Information

The state fair is open today through Sunday, Oct. 24. Fairground gates will be open from 8 a.m. until midnight daily, but the Commission’s tent (pdf), which is located downhill from the Holshouser Building, will be open to the public 9 a.m. until 9:30 p.m.

The fairgrounds are located at 1025 Blue Ridge Road in Raleigh. State fair staff can be contacted by phone at (919) 821-7400. General information can be obtained from the state fair Web site, www.ncstatefair.org.

Return to News/Press Releases