Is it getting cold where you are? There is still plenty of warm weather down at the Florida Keys National Wildlife Refuge Complex. The refuge is located in the lower Florida Keys and currently consists of approximately 9,200 acres of land that includes pine rockland forests, tropical hardwood hammocks, freshwater wetlands, salt marsh wetlands, and mangrove forests. These natural communities are critical habitat for hundreds of endemic and migratory species including 17 federally-listed species such as Key deer, lower Keys marsh rabbit, and silver rice rat.

Photo: Chad Anderson

Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia includes more than 14,000 acres of beach, dunes, marsh, and maritime forest. Within a workday’s access to millions of people, Chincoteague Refuge is one of the most visited refuges in the United States, providing visitors with outstanding opportunities to learn about and enjoy wildlands and wildlife.

Photo: USFWS 

Stretching eight miles along Delaware Bay and covering 16,251 acres, Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge provides habitat for wildlife. Four-fifths of the refuge is tidal salt marsh with a mix of cordgrass meadows, mud flats, tidal pools, rivers, creeks, and tidal streams. The upland area includes forests, freshwater impoundments, brushy and timbered swamps, and fields of herbaceous plants.

This diversity of habitats is reflected in the diversity of animal life. The refuge is managed for large numbers of waterfowl arriving in the fall, for migrating songbirds and shorebirds in the spring, and provides habitat for tall wading birds in the summer.  Deer, red foxes, and beavers are found on the refuge, as well as many species of turtles, insects, non-poisonous snakes, frogs, and salamanders.

The refuge offers visitors a 12-mile auto tour, five walking trails (two that are accessible to people with disabilities), three observation towers, wildlife photography, hunting opportunities, a variety of nature and educational programs, and interpretative displays.

Photo: Tim Williams - USFWS