Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, the Zane Grey Festival was held last Saturday on a sunny (but not too hot) day on the grounds of the Zane Grey Museum in Lackawaxen, PA, which is operated by the National Park Service. This annual family-friendly event celebrates the life and legacy of Western novelist Zane Grey with a full day of educational programs, live music, demonstrations, horse-drawn wagon rides, and hands on activities.

One of the highlights for both kids and adults alike this year was a presentation by Susan Downing of Pocono Wildlife that included a barn owl, barred owl, kestrel, box turtle, hognose snake, and a “descented” skunk.

Downing offered advice on handling your own backyard visitors, such as the best way to deal with being sprayed by a skunk (Skunk Be Gone or other dedicated skunk order removers), how to spot a rabid racoon (face full of porcupine quills), and how opossums make the best neighbors (they can’t get rabies due to their low body temperature and love to eat ticks). She also reminded the audience to cut up or cover any containers in the trash that a hungry critter might get themselves stuck in.

Margo Seibert, of Eldred, had a front row seat with her two children. “We live right across the river [from here],” she says. “We came to check out the wildlife and the museum and to just support the National Park Service.”

A volunteer portraying Buffalo Jones demonstrated how to use a lasso. Jones was a wildlife conservationist who was hired to be the first game warden of Yellowstone National Park. While in character, the volunteer described the connection between Jones and Grey, who shared a love of wildlife and the American bison.

“For about a few years, they went out west, and Zane Grey was a part of the expeditions where Buffalo Jones would try to capture live American bison so that he could breed them and hopefully prevent their demise,” he said. Douglas Adams, the great, great grandson of Buffalo Jones, presented a talk in the afternoon titled “Jones & Grey: A Legacy of the American”.

While the Zane Grey Museum hosts the event, the festival is really a celebration of all that our area has to offer and how to safely preserve and enjoy the rivers, trails, and lakes in the Delaware River Valley for years to come.