Squaw Creek Nat'l Wildlife Refuge

This was my first trip to a wildlife refuge and I've noticed I've been outdoors more and more lately - brings to mind growing up and taking family road trips in the RV. 11 people in an RV is an interesting experiment of group dynamics. But, this time I was flying solo on a trip to the Squaw Creek Nat'l Wildlife Refuge which is located a little over an hour from my hotel.

When I arrived at the refuge I wasn't entirely sure what to expect but what I found was a great venue playing host to the preservation of thousands of acres of land home to various birds, reptiles, and all manner of flora and fauna. I was compelled to find out if there were any poisonous snakes in MO and to my chagrin there are 5 types of poisonous snakes, 3 of which are rattlesnakes - yay. Note, I absolutely hate snakes. My goals for this random day trip - (1) to see a bald eagle and/or eagles nest and (2) to avoid snakes at all costs.

The refuge has a auto-tour which allows people to drive to 15 designated spots throughout the property or you can do a hybrid auto-tour/hike. The hiking sites were closed so I had to do the auto-tour only. However, since the speed limit is 25 mph and there were only 4 cars on the tour when I was there, I was able to get out and snap photos, check out various observation towers and try to see if I still had a little enviro-geek in me capable of identifying the various species I saw. Yup, I was in an environmental group in HS which participated in a little thing called the Envirothon...what, what. Yea, my crew went to parks and identified plants and animals by their Latin names...it was pretty bad ass. :)

All that aside, the refuge was wonderful, the weather was perfect and the various types of landscape lent themselves to a really great afternoon where there were unexpected sites at every turn - I saw a beaver for the first time ever and they are adorable. I tried to help a turtle cross the road and it snapped at me (apparently it didn't recognize a friend) and I was able to see a bald eagles nest...and two snakes (ugh). The refuge looks like a postcard and I'll definitely go back if I'm able to later in the fall when I was assured that eagles would be coming to nest.