Common, though often secretive, species include bobcats, alligators, red and grey foxes, mink and otter. More frequently encountered are white-tailed deer, raccoons, fox squirrels, beaver, marsh hawks, shorebirds and wading birds. Mallards, northern pintails and wood ducks are numerous. Many neotropical migratory songbirds use the refuge at various times. The arctic peregrine falcon and bald eagle are occasional visitors.
Anglers fish for gar, crappie, bowfin, bream species, buffalo, carp and catfish.
Once part of a vast bottomland hardwood wilderness, the area's topography was vastly changed in the 1980s to create a rice farming plantation. When the plantation failed, the Fish and Wildlife Service purchased the land for its superior water control capability. Mud flats can be created for migrating shorebirds, agricultural crops can be flooded for wintering waterfowl, and small areas can be impounded for crawfish production.