As you settle back, you begin to notice many birds flying from one tree to the next, their calls ringing in the air. You hear tree frogs and the buzz of mosquitoes at your ear. You notice crawfish mounds near the water and droppings from a raccoon and a fox. You see the footprints of several deer, and you can see minnows in the shallow water. Water lilies float on the water surface.
Butterflies visit the swamp lilies and dragonflies dart through the air.
This place is a wetland. We all know that the whys and hows of wetlands and endangered species protection are among the more controversial and actively debated natural resource issues of our day. My purpose here is to explain, in general terms, what wetlands and endangered species are and to discuss the relationships which often exist between the two. This explanation will emphasize the role wetlands play in providing habitat for many plants and animals and the consequences loss of wetland habitat has had on many species. While the warm, fuzzy description given at the beginning of this publication helps develop a mental picture of a wetland, it leaves out the mosquito bites and humidity for which these areas are famous.