Vegetation The original vegetation of Freetown was probably a dense blanket of broadleaf deciduous trees like

American beech, sugar maple, yellow birch, red oak and white birch. Mixed with these broadleaf trees were some coniferous trees like balsam fir, hemlock, white spruce, red spruce, black spruce and perhaps white pine. The conifers would have predominated in the poorly drained areas and along creeks and streams.

The undergrowth in the wooded areas was composed of mountain maple, hazel-nut, elder, dogwood, hawthorne, cherry, serviceberry and alder. Almost every settlement including Freetown, reported burned woods in the early years. A report by Smethurst claimed that around the year 1700 a great fire passed through almost the entire province, causing enormous damage.

The trees eventually regenerated and by the time the first settlers arrived in Freetown a heavy growth of hardwood faced them. Clearing was a difficult task for the usually inexperienced and poorly equipped pioneer family. The forest must have been disheartening to the new settlers but with determination and hard work they cleared the land and discovered the trees were a valuable resource. They provided lumber for homes, firewood for warmth, shelter from the wind and even maple syrup for food.

In the 1800s shipbuilding took a large quantity of the best lumber. Trees like beech, ash, oak, maple, birch, pine, hemlock and spruce were used extensively and without management, leaving only the poorest to regenerate the woodlots. That many of the original species remain in Freetown to the present day suggests the area was not totally exhausted of good stock. An area known as “the Birches”, in Upper Freetown, contains native species like sugar maple, beech, and of course yellow and white birch. A stand of red oak remains in Upper Freetown on the east side of the Dunk River Road. Some new species, mainly in the form of fruit and ornamental trees, have also been added to the Freetown landscape.

On the woodland floor are found plants like woodfern, sarsaparilla, club moss, trillium and sometimes lady’s slipper. Some common plants found along the Dunk River are cow parsnip, stinging nettle, cinnamon fern and curled dock. Settlers also imported cereals, vegetables, herbs, garden shrubs, wild thyme, lupin, yarrow, daisy, hawkweed and ragweed.

Wildlife

In 1719 when the first European settlers arrived on Prince Edward Island, there were twenty-eight species of mammal present. It is not known if all these species lived in the Freetown area but certainly many did due to the abundance of hardwood trees and proximity of the Dunk and Wilmot Rivers. With the clearing of the forest many of the larger mammals the black bear, wolf, lynx, moose and fisher became extinct. Most communities however have handed down stories of incidents involving encounters with the black bear.

Samuel Holland, recorded the following observations of Prince Edward Island wildlife on 5 October 1765.

“Here are bears, otters, martins, foxes (red, black and grey), lynxes or wild cats, mink, musk rats, and some, though very few caribou, a kind of deer. Hares are extremely good, but in the winter are whitei’ Holland went on to describe his observations of birds and fish and concluded with this comment: “In short, for beasts, birds and fish, no place can wish to be more plentifully stored, though the chase of them is attended with difficulty and trouble, and requires much patience?

Animals that did not require vast amounts of woodland to survive were able to adapt to the changes caused by human settlement. Species like the fox (red, silver-grey, and black) snowshoe hare, squirrel (red and flying), martin, weasel, mole, shrew, chipmunk, bats, mice and ermine have all survived and specimens of most can be found in the Freetown area.

Native birds in the hardwood, include goshawks, sparrows, hawks, golden eagles, bald eagles, peregrine falcons, owls, woodpeckers, grouse, pigeons, hummingbirds, flycatchers, king birds, peewees, crows, blue jays, Canadian jays, grackles, blue birds, finchs, grosbeaks, robins, swallows, shrikes, warblers, chickadees, thrush, kingfishers, and yellow-billed cuckoos.

Along the streams, rivers, swamps and salt marshes, familiar wildlife would be: beaver, musk rats, mink, toads, frogs, salamanders, black snakes, garter snakes, seals and others. Wildfowl in the marshy areas include the herring gull, pintail duck, eider duck, black mallard, wild geese, merganser, scotter, teal, Icon and great blue heron. Most farmers have observed herring gulls scavenging for nourishment in freshly ploughed 0r cultivated fields. The Freetown area is on one of the main migratory paths for wild geese across Prince Edward Island. Flocks are often observed in the spring and fall, landing on the areas’ grain fields and marshes. Many hunters also frequent the area during the fall hunting season.