Laguna Atascosa Wildlife Refuge

Martina and I attended a friend's wedding in Brownsville on Saturday evening, and we visited the Laguna Atascosa Wildlife Refuge on Sunday. While we were at Laguna Atascosa, I felt like we were on our own private safari. There were very few visitors that day, at least during the hottest part of the day when we were there, and we spotted plenty of wildlife even in the late afternoon. Upon our arrival, we immediately saw green jays, a beautiful species that is perhaps unremarkable to residents of the valley, but it was certainly fascinating to us. We also saw a golden-fronted woodpecker, an altamira oriole, a great kiskadee, a long-billed thrasher, and a couple of crested caracaras, a strange-looking bird that prefers fresh carrion. We also heard the loud, raucous call of the chachalaca, though we did not see one.

After a short hike down an old paved road lined with soaptree yucca, mesquite, and other trees that must have been in the acacia family, we came to an alligator pond. The pond was close to dry, but we did see one alligator that seemed rather large by my standard as well as a very young one. There are ocelots on the refuge,too, though we didn't see one, of course, for these elusive creatures are nocturnal and very difficult to spot. However, I could not help but wonder what animals used the game paths that led through the thicket. Looking at the thicket that volunteers must work like the devil to keep at bay along the trails, I did not feel a particular urge to crawl along a game path and find out who resided at the other end. There is a reason that ocelots live in this place, for it is an absolute fortress of thorn.

While I stood there looking into the dense, thorny thicket, I thought about the European settlers that tried to cross the brush country in the mid-nineteenth century. It must have been a strange and hostile land. Even today there are signs in Laguna Atascosa reminding parents that they are in mountain lion country and that they should keep their children at their side (lest they become breakfast).

We also saw a Nilgai antelope gallop across a field when we drove by on an unpaved road. Neither of us, I must confess, had ever seen one of these creatures before, and it was not until we were back at the hotel that we even figured out what we had seen. We learned that these creatures were introduced to South Texas on the King Ranch around 1930 and that about 15,000 of them can now be found on the South Texas range.

In my opinion, the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge is one of the most fascinating places in Texas. I hope to be back again one winter during peak birding season. However, after our recent trip, any time of year and even any time of day seems like the right time to visit.