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Lacassine
National Wildlife Refuge is about water - and lots of it. This
important refuge on both the Central and Mississippi Flyway attracts
hundreds of thousands of migratory waterfowl to its natural freshwater
marshes
and to its extensive impoundment of open water at Lacassine Pool. Green-winged teals, northern
pintails, mallards and other ducks begin descending on the refuge in
September. Many remain through the winter.
All
seasons can be interesting at Lacassine. In the fall, shorebirds
foage in the refuge's rice fields and crawfish ponds. And during
breeding season, egrets, herons, anhingas and cormorants form rookeries
in the cypress trees lining Mud Lake.
In total,
Lacassine provides habitat for 228 species of birds. Mammals
include white-tailed deer, mink, otter, swamp rabbit, fox
squirrel, coyote and raccoon, as well as the much more rarely
seen Louisiana black bear.
Cars
are permitted on four miles of refuge roads, and hiking is allowed
on another thirty miles of service roads and levees. Lacassine
Pool
has a public boat-launching site open between March 15 and October 15.
Other permitted activities include berry picking, deer and waterfowl
hunting, recreational fishing for bass, crappie, catfish, gar and
bowfin and wildlife observation at Lacassine Pool and Unit B. |
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