Over many years villages became elevated above the marsh by mounds of discarded shells. Many of these areas, called shell middens, now dot coastal marshes as small groves of trees in an otherwise treeless prairie. Huge groups of snow geese, sometimes in excess of 80,000, feed on rice fields and moist soil units found near Shoveler Pond and FM 1985. Most waterfowl can be seen on the auto tour around Shoveler Pond. Listen and look closely on Yellow Rail Prairie for the secretive yellow rails that live in the salty prairies.
Yellow rails are just one of six rail species that occur on the refuge.
The willows near Shoveler Pond and the salt cedar hedgerow north of Teal Slough offer the some of the best birding opportunities in the area. Endangered in the 1960s, American alligators are now an abundant resident of the refuge. Alligators are most easily seen during the spring but are often visible during the summer and fall. Shoveler Pond, in the northwest corner of the refuge, is the best place to see them. It is illegal to feed or disturb alligators or any plant or animal on the refuge.