Animals and Plants of Perrot State Park

• Animals
• Plants

Perrot State Park's rivers, wetlands, upland fields, steep wooded slopes, deep valleys, and bluff tops are home to hundreds of kinds of plants and animals. Both Brady's Bluff Prairie and Trempealeau Mountain are designated as state natural areas.

Animals

Many large and small animals inhabit the park.

Insects

Many colorful butterflies and moths spend time in the prairies searching for that perfect flower. Big blue [exit DNR] and green dragonflies [exit DNR] and dainty damselflies will keep you company as you walk along the river or canoe in Trempealeau Bay.

Mammals

Beaver, muskrats, mink,and occasionally otters are found in wetland areas. Deer, raccoons, woodchucks,squirrels, chipmunks, fox, and weasels, plus many species of mice, shrews and bats, live here, too.

Birds

More than 200 species of birds could be recorded here in a year's time. Migrating birds such as warblers, vireos, thrushes, flycatchers, waterfowl, shorebirds, wading birds, and hawks come through in great numbers in spring and fall. Tundra swans are the first migrating birds to come through in the spring. They will often stay a few weeks in Trempealeau Bay. Once they show up in November you know that the cold is soon to come.

About 100 kinds of birds can be seen here in the summer. The numerous songbirds and waterfowl found in the area make Perrot State Park a popular stop along the Great Wisconsin Birding and Nature Trail [exit DNR].

Amphibians and Reptiles

The bottomlands are home to many kinds of frogs and toads including the spring peeper and American toad.

Snapping, painted, false map, soft-shell, and wood turtles live in the rivers and wetlands, along with brown water snakes and garter snakes. The bluffs have hog-nosed and fox snakes, bullsnakes, and blue racers. Timber rattlesnakes, a species of special concern in Wisconsin, live in the rock cliff areas in the bluffs.

Plants

In spring, the woods offer blue, white, and yellow violets; hepaticas; Dutchman's breeches, woodland phlox [exit DNR], wood geraniums, bellworts [exit DNR], jack-in-the-pulpits [exit DNR], and graceful ferns. Spring also brings shooting stars which carpet the woods with purple and fill the air along the west Brady’s Bluff trail with their wonderfully sweet aroma. Oaks, hackberries, black walnuts, and shagbark and bitternut hickories are found in the woods. [exit DNR]

In Brady's Bluff Prairie, pasque flowers, bird's-foot violets [exit DNR], puccoon, and lead plant [exit DNR] bloom in the spring. In late summer and fall this prairie turns into a blaze of color with blazing stars, compass plants, big bluestem, Indian grass, sunflowers, and coneflowers.

Take your camera and binoculars, be careful, and have a good time!

For more information, ask Perrot State Park, (608) 534-6409.