Oak Mountain Farm & Wildlife Center

A couple of weeks before Halloween 2020 Dianne and I made another visit to the Oak Mountain State Park Demonstration Farm and the Alabama Wildlife Center. Back in January 2020 I wrote about a visit to the farm with our daughter, son-in-law and grandson. I've also written briefly about the history of the park. 

Some comments on this trip are below. 

Chickens, ponies and goats, oh my!

Various kinds of goats are plentiful at the Demonstration Farm. They have numerous lounging pads.

Goats have the run of golf carts, too. This one is waiting at the office where visitors buy feed for the animals. The goats especially gather round whenever humans walk up to the window! All of them have names, by the way, and the staff will happily talk about the habits of each one. 

The Alabama Wildlife Center is the oldest and largest wild bird rescue program in the state, rehabilitating almost 2000 birds a year. This eagle was in rehab during our visit. Unfortunately, some of the birds have to remain on site permanently; their injuries are such they cannot be released back into the wild. 

The AWC has some pleasant walkways among the buildings. 

And there were a trio of hawks...

Some mysterious owls were around, too....a great horned owl and a barn owl 

This shot was taken inside the main building. 

A Visit to the Oak Mountain State Park Demonstration Farm

On the Friday after Christmas last year our daughter Becca, son-in-law Matt, grandson Ezra, Dianne and I loaded up and headed for the Demonstration Farm at Oak Mountain State Park. Since the park is just down the road from our house, we didn't have far to go for the fun.

Oak Mountain State Park dates from 1927, when the State Land Act established it with 940 acres between Double Oak Mountain and Little Oak Ridge in Shelby County. The Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps made many improvements throughout the park between 1934 and 1941; evidence of that work can still be seen. In 1943 the National Park Service donated about 8,000 acres to the park that NPS had owned since the 1930's. After 1971 further improvements included the golf course and pro shop, cottages and the demonstration farm. 

On that Friday morning we had the farm almost to ourselves. An older couple appeared a little while after we did, and we were able to talk a bit with the employee on duty. Otherwise, it was just our little group and the animals!

Comments follow some of the photographs.

Matt holds Ezra, who is petting Taylor the donkey. Taylor was our instant friend and followed us all over the farm--even after we fed him!

We got to admire several miniature ponies.

Ah, the goats! There are quite a few of them, and they get up close and personal once you reach the office where feed is for sale.

Two peacocks were available for our viewing pleasure.

The goats climb whatever is available.

The goats are gathering....they were friendly but pushy when the feed cans appeared!

We could only admire the peacocks; unlike the other animals, they should not be petted. Becca told us the story of one of her classmates who was attacked in the face by one during an elementary school field trip to the farm. 

I failed to take any pictures of the many chickens at the Demonstration Farm. In addition to lots of "normal" ones they have several of these Silkie types like this bantam. We called them poodle chickens. The employee told us they are pretty dumb even for chickens and tend to just roam around in circles. 

Source: Wikipedia

Pelham's Oak Mountain State Park

Alabama’s largest state park forms the northeastern section of Pelham since annexation by the city in 1990. Pelham was a small, unincorporated town when the park was created in 1927 by the State Land Act’s grant of 940 acres. Improvements to the park were made during the Great Depression of the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

In 1943 the National Park Service deeded some 8000 acres to the park from an acquisition in the previous decade. Further improvements such as the golf course and the demonstration farm were made in the 1970s. Our largest state park also has the state’s largest wildlife rehabilitation center.

These two photographs from the 1940s or 1950s are among several Girl Scout scenes at the park available from the Alabama Department of Archives and History in Montgomery.

 

 

Source: Alabama Department of Archives & History

 

 

Note: A version of this post was published in the Pelham City News Summer 2013 issue.