New England Habitats

Permanent Exhibit

Our Museum Exhibits team has thoroughly reviewed every exhibit component throughout the entire Museum to assess its safety and risk for transmission. As a result, some exhibits and venues, like New England Habitats, have been modified for your safety.

Experience New England's natural environment with these classic dioramas. With windows into wide-ranging landscapes, model birds, casts of feet, antlers, beaks, and other elements, this exhibit is a fun, engaging experience for all curious visitors.

Observe deciduous woods, salty beaches, ocean cliffs, and other New England habitats, and see how they look and sound. (Note that the touchable fur and smell box components are currently unavailable). Hear the sound of a beaver smacking its tail against the water in alarm, and learn how some wildlife adaptations resemble human tools.

See representations of the Katahdin woods, the Maine coast, Crane Beach, Wildcat Mountain, New Hampshire's Squam Lake, and the Green Mountains of Vermont, which are all located within a 150-mile radius, but vary in climate, vegetation, and wildlife.

Artist Francis Lee Jaques, famous for his ability to blend background paintings seamlessly with three-dimensional foregrounds, painted many of these along with several other Museum dioramas.

When he was on lunch break, Jaques' wife sometimes snuck into the hall and painted little, hidden gremlins into his backgrounds. Look for her handiwork in the Crane Beach diorama!