Wildlife
Little Buffalo Creek and Holman Lake create an excellent habitat for a great variety of wild animals. The waters of the creek and lake are warm. This makes for an ideal habitat for crappie, sunfish and largemouth bass. The bass will eat just about anything in the lake. They prey on ducklings, crayfish, frogs and even other fish. Holman Lake has a very large population of yellow perch. The population of the yellow perch has been managed by the stocking of walleye, muskellunge, and channel catfish. This large population a tremendous variety of fish has made Holman Lake a very popular fishing lake. Holman Lake is a designated "Big Bass Lake". This means that the only fish anglers are allowed to keep must be at least 15 inches long with a daily limit of 4 bass.
The fish population draws birds to the waters of Holman Lake. Bald Eagles and osprey do not nest at Little Buffalo State Park, but they do fish the waters. Great Blue Heron and Green Heron wade in the shallows of the lake in search of fish, frogs and crayfish. Wood Ducks make their home at the lake along with mallards and Canadian Geese. The woods and field surrounding the lake are the home of the once rare bluebird. These birds became endangered due to the loss habitat. They nested only in tree cavities. People have helped the bluebird by constructing birdhouses that mimic the woodpecker holes that bluebirds would naturally use to build their nests. Turkeys and Ruffed Grouse live in and thrive in the forests of Little Buffalo State Park.
The streams and lakeshores of Little Buffalo State Park are the home to the nocturnal hunter the mink. The park is also a habitat for woodland mammals such as the White-tailed deer, red and gray squirrel, rabbits, chipmunks, and black bear.
Little Buffalo State Park has a population of snakes and turtles. The red spotted newt lives near the lake. This amphibian is often confused with a lizard. It is five inches (127 mm) long and is green with red spots. These newts are numerous because they are not eaten by the many fish of the lake. The skin of the newt secretes a mild toxin that makes it unpalatable to fish.
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