Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge
by Bear, age 6
We went to Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge in Missouri to see the migrating birds.
Lewis and Clark came through this area on their expedition. Then it was a large wetlands with lots of different birds and fish and muskrats and other wild animals. In his journal, Clark wrote:
Butiful & extensive plain, cover’d with Grass resembling timothy except the Seed which resembles Flax Seed, this plain also abounds in Grapes of different kinds.
Soon after, people began to settle in this area. They farmed and hunted. They drained wetlands and there weren’t so many places for animals to hide or to rest.
In 1935, this area was set aside by the Civil Conservation Corps under President Roosevelt to restore some of the wetlands. It now covers over 7,000 acres and is part of the National Wildlife Refuge system which protects waterfowl.
I really liked all the muskrat lodges in the pools. Sometims bald eagles perch on them to watch the water birds.
Muskrat lodges at Squaw Creek. Photo by Dana Hanley
We saw a flock of pelicans resting on their way back to their nesting grounds in the northern US and southern Canada. We even saw some of them flying over us as we drove south on I-29 on the way to the reserve!
American White Pelicans resting at Squaw Creek. Photo by Dana Hanley.
We saw snow geese along with many other kinds of ducks. There can be up to 300,000 snow geese at the refuge at the peak of migration. We only saw a couple of flocks, but one had an injured leg. They are making a journey all the way back to the tundra in northern Canada.
A snow goose. Photo by Dana Hanley.
After visiting grandma’s, we went to Squaw Creek again so my sister (the Science Mouse) could see the birds, too. We were picking her up after a visit and wanted to show her all the birds we saw. I liked the trip so much, especially the muskrats even though I thought they were beavers at first.
Bear is a six year old homeschooled boy who loves playing outside and staying in hotels.
