High water doesn’t keep snow geese away from this wildlife refuge

The soggy winter may be making it hard for humans to get around but if you’re a goose these conditions may be close to paradise.

Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge near Mound City, Mo. hasn’t escaped the effects of an unusually wet winter. Access to the refuge is now limited due to high water in the area but that hasn’t stopped an enormous number of snow geese from making their annual stop at the refuge.

The number of snow geese residing at the refuge has ballooned in the last week according to the refuge’s website. According to the site’s bird count tally the number of snow geese on the refuge was 20 on March 5. On March 12 the count rocketed up to more than 1.3 million birds. Snow geese aren’t the only waterfowl residing at the refuge but are by far the most in number and the most noticeable.

According to a post on the refuge’s Facebook page, visitors cannot drive the auto tour route around the refuge but they are welcome to walk the route. The birds leave the refuge well before dawn and return to the water around mid-day if the sun is shining according to the post.

This story was originally published March 15, 2019 at 9:04 PM.