🏞️ Hirundo Wildlife Refuge

Hirundo Wildlife Refuge is a wildlife refuge covering 2,402 acres (972 ha) along Pushaw and Dead streams in Old Town, in Penobscot County, Maine. The refuge was founded in 1965 by Oliver Larouche from his parents' 3 acres (1.2 ha) camp. The refuge was donated as a trust to the University of Maine in 1983 by Larouche and his wife, June. The refuge is a living laboratory where current and past scientific research has been conducted. Hirundo is just downstream of Pushaw Lake and includes part of the Caribou Bog wetland complex, which is one of the largest wetlands in Maine. The refuge is also the site of the National Register-listed Hirundo Site, a prehistoric Native American habitation site with evidence of 4,500 years of occupation.