Old Woman Creek, Ohio

Old Woman Creek, Ohio

Fauna (Animal Life)

Mammals more commonly observed in the reserve include deer mice, deer, short-tail shrew, eastern chipmunk, little brown bat, red fox, fox squirrels, cottontail rabbits, eastern woodchuck, raccoon, opossum, muskrat and whitetail deer.

Old Woman Creek lies within a major route for bird migrations. The reserve serves as a way station for tired and hungry migratory birds. More than 200 species have been recorded in and around the estuary. Some common bird species, are swallows, terns, eagles, ospreys, diving ducks and belted kingfishers, egrets, herons, meadowlarks, song sparrows, goldfinches, red-tailed hawks, great horned owls.

While little is currently known of the populations of reptiles and amphibians in the reserve, a brief study conducted during 1980 revealed the presence of several species, including slimy salamander, American toad, Fowler's toad, American bullfrog, snapping turtle, midland painted turtle, Blanding's turtle, map turtle, fox snake, northern water snake, Dekay's snake and the eastern garter snake (including the melanistic form.)

Test netting for fish species conducted by staff have identified more than 40 species in the reserve's lake and stream waters. Fish species have included adult northern pike, largemouth bass, brown and black bullhead, longnose gar, goldfish, carp, common shiner, black and white crappie, bluegill, sunfish, common shiner, Johnny darter, white sucker, creek chub, flathead minnow, stone roller and bluntnose minnow.

Endangered Species
The reserve's threatened federally listed endangered species is the American bald eagle. Several state listed endangered species also occur within the reserve