DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge, Where Are the Snow Geese?
Where Are the Snow Geese? Since DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1958, lesser snow geese have been a part of our history. They utilized the refuge during their fall migration. During the 1980’s and 90’s, huge flocks of snow geese could be observed. Peak migration counts in late November were as high as 700,000 geese. So where are the snow geese? Why does Squaw Creek Refuge, just south of us, have snow geese and DeSoto doesn’t? Will they come back? First a little background information. Lesser snow geese nest in the Arctic from Alaska to Greenland. However, there are distinct colonies of geese throughout this area. The snows that migrated through DeSoto nest primarily along the west coast of Hudson Bay; more exactly the La Perouse Bay and McConnell River areas. The snow goose population has been exploding during the twentieth century. This huge population is destroying their breeding grounds. Arctic tundra is very fragile and can not support the huge numbers of geese t
