CATS • DOGS • EQUESTRIAN • EXOTICS • HOMESTEADING • WILDLIFE
Vol 1 editiOn 3 -AuG SeP 2016 …………………………………………………
PG.34
PriCelesS
PG.24
PG.21 PG.26
9
FRIDAY
TH
SEPTEMBER
@ Callawassie Island Club HAPPY HOUR
STARTS @
6:30
PM
TO PURCHASE TICKETS &
LEARN MORE VISIT
morrisheritagecenter.org
OR CALL 843.284.9227
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This Fundraiser has Direct Impact on our Educational Programs dealing with Lowcountry History, Wildlife, and Cultural Arts, which Empowers and Celebrates Thousands of People in our Local Community each year.
JOIN US! For a 4-Course Dinner Event and savor traditional Lowcountry fare served with a dash of the unexpected. The evening will include a silent auction, live music, drinks, dancing, book signings and time to dish with the Chefs. FEATURING
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5 Publitor's Message - John Burton - Joe Nehila 6 Making a Difference | Coastal Rescue - Sharon Bordeaux 7 Friend Me | Adoptions - Sponsored by Ligato's Fine Jewelry 8 Dog Days of Summer - Kari Jenkins 9 Voice of the Sound | Artificial Oyster Reefs - Christopher Kehrer 10 Where Fine Art & the Bounty of the Sea Come Together 11 An Oyster is an Oyster is an Oyster...or is it? - Hannah Seigworth 13 I Got the Wrong Cat | In Memory of Habu - Melissa Hallbeck 14 Pet Not Eating - Take Them to the Vet | A True Story - Ande Nehila 15 From Sea To Table | A Gullah Traditon - Joe Nehila 18 Barking Bluffton | Share Page 19 Intro to Sea Turtles - Josephine O'Brien 21 A Tale of Two Silases | The Legacy of Silas Edenfield 23 Contributors 24 Birds & Coyotes | Wild Lessons - Jane Payne 26 Wild Horses of the Coast - Kieran Paulsen 29 Books for People who Love Animals & BOOKS - Linda Burton 30 Coloring Page 1 - Tiffani Taylor 31 Coloring Page 2 - Mira Scott 32 A Portrait of Bess Ramsey - Tiffani Taylor 33 Collage Page 34 Southern Dinosaurs - Justin Smith 36 Classifieds | From the Homestead 37 Squawk
CATS
EXOTIC
DOGS
HOMESTEADING
EQUESTRIAN
WILDLIFE
PEANUT GALLERY
C AT E G O R Y
K E Y
VOLUME 1
21 24 26
EDITION 3
-
AUG SEP 2016
Cover Stories
Tale of Two Silases: The Legacy of Silas Edenfield
Birds & Coyotes: Wild Lessons
Wild Horses of the Coast
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Southern Dinosaurs
Associate Publisher Ande Nehila Managing Editor Joe Nehila Editor Hannah Seigworth Creative Direction Nosoco Designer Jason Kelly Cover Photography South Carolina Aquarium Contributors Ande Nehila, Joe Nehila, Sharon Bordeaux, Justin Smith, Jane Payne, Hannah Seigworth, Linda Burton, Josephine O'Brien, Kieran Paulsen, Kari Jenkins, Mira Scott, Melissa Hallbeck, Tiffani Taylor Photography Credits Maritime Center, Coastal Discovery Museum, South Carolina Aquarium, Jerry Griffin of Coastal Carolina Imagery, Kieran Paulsen, Cam Davis Community Liaison Erika Nouri Nosoco dba Tails of the Lowcountry 175 Boardwalk Dr. Suite H Ridgeland, SC 29936 843-882-7803 info@tailsofthelowcountry.com www.tailsofthelowcountry.com
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Copyrighted. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced without permission of the publisher. The opinions expressed in Tails of the Lowcountry magazine are those of the authors or columnists and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, nor do they constitute an endorsement of products or services herein. Tails of the Lowcountry retains the right to refuse any advertisement. For questions of animal health, wellness, and safety, readers should consult professionals.
Publisher John Burton
Publitor's Message
J
oe & I have decided this month to combine our forces, sort of like Captain Planet. You see, the focal topic is wildlife.
A word on the “themes.” Some readers were a bit confused with the first edition, thinking we were all about homesteading and farming. The following issue, about cats, evoked responses of “I love cats” and “I won’t like your magazine, I’m not a cat person.” Each copy contains articles on all of our core subjects, but it’s not until you open it (or read the cover banner) that you discover this for yourself. Something about sea turtles, alligators, oysters, and wild horses makes the kid in us squeal with excitement. South Carolina and Georgia are replete with tales of coastal creatures and outdoor wonders. Our team has been forced to eliminate dozens of pages to keep Tails economical as a free publication for our community. We thank all of our advertising partners for joining us so quickly on our journey to celebrate animal lovers. We hope that this copy is as meaningful to you as it was to us. It represents the best of the community. Love for the outdoors. Love for gentle friends and ferocious hunters. Touching tributes to loved ones and stories of heroism large and small accompany the educational. Our contests are getting better each month, with wonderful prizes being donated by Jack Frost’s, Aunt Laurie’s, Hunter Cattle Co., The Sugaree, and unique partnerships with Highway 21 Drive-In, Sprout Momma, and more. Our team would like to thank the talented crew at Big D’s Royal Tees for silk screening our t-shirt vision, bringing them to life, and all our talented contributors. The oppressive heat will give way to one of the best times of year in the Lowcountry, the fall. Eventually. From one weekend to the next, fairs, festivals, and celebrations will line our streets. You will see them reminding you of their existence on our pages. Tails will be there, and we hope to see you and your fourlegged friends. If you are like us, the hustle and bustle of daily minutia take you away from the things you love. And you forget. So, here are a few important dates to remember:
August 31st
Last day to submit your “Making a Difference” candidate.
Sep 12th
Last day for content submissions & Friend Me adoption section.
Sep 15th
Last day for the Coloring Contest & Photo Contest.
Sep 18th
Last day to send in a photo for our community collage page. John Burton, Publisher Joe Nehila, Editor www.tailsofthelowcountry.com
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Making a
DIFFERENCE With
L
ife takes you to unexpected places. Love brings you home. -Melissa McClone
For Coastal Pet Rescue in Savannah, animals who find themselves in unexpected places, desperately needing love and a home are what the group deals in 365 days a year. Recently, Coastal Pet Rescue itself has found a home. Camp Pawsawhile Retreat, set in a shady woodland near the Truman Parkway, is a labor of love and a lot of volunteer hours. The site includes kennels, a cattery, service buildings and a memorial garden. Cats and dogs in this small capacity shelter are temporary residents, awaiting adoption or placement in a foster home. Although Camp Pawsawhile is not open to the public, the group's available dogs and cats can be viewed on the CPR website. Foster homes are especially needed, and the team is always looking for a few hands to make light work. As with all pet rescue organizations, the math is simple: more animals adopted or fostered equals more animals saved from dire situations. Coastal Pet Rescue was chosen as one of the beneficiaries of Wag-O-Ween (presented by Savannah’s Canine Palace) to be held on Saturday, October 22. Savannah's trick or treat afternoon for dogs and their people will be giving all profits from the 2016 event to Coastal Pet Rescue, Dachshund Rescue of North America and the Humane Society for Greater Savannah. Through its adoption events, presentations and participation in fundraisers such as Wag-O-Ween, Coastal Pet Rescue is a vibrant presence in the community. And, it may cause you to pause a while and marvel that last year this determined group saved over 500 cats and dogs, giving them both love and a home.
By Sharon Bordeaux, Former Critters Guru
6
Friend Me
Charlie
Bailey
Bloom
Jethro
Whiskers
Pixie
Clyde
Belle
Hilton Head Humane Association - hhhumane.org
Butch
Louie
Rogue Rescue & Sanctuary - roguerescue.org
Effingham County Animal Shelter effinghamcounty.org
Homer
Elsie
Elsa
Chaplain
Coastal Pet Rescue - coastalpetrescue.org
Cleo
Tabby House tabbyhousebeaufort.com
Haru
Mogwa
Banjo
Luna
Jasper
Lovable Paws Rescue - lovablepawsrescue.com
Ligato's Fine Jewelry 80 Baylor Drive, Suite 106 Bluffton, South Carolina 29910
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signs of a life threatening condition and the pet should be taken to the veterinarian immediately. Both heat exhaustion and heat stroke can be life threatening and are considered emergency situations. Cats tend to hide in higher temperatures, normally coming out in the cooler parts of the day. Cats also sweat from their footpads and pant when they are overheated. Any open mouth breathing in a cat that lasts for more than a few minutes is a sign for concern. Otherwise, the guidelines and signs of heatstroke and heat exhaustion are the same as in dogs.
e all know we are in the middle of a particularly hot summer. For most of us, that means staying in the shade, cooling off in the water and lots of cold drinks. Animals have also come up with some great ways of staying cool. This is important as it can be dangerous or deadly if they don’t. Here are some of the signs your animal friends are trying to stay cool and ways that you can help them beat the heat. Dogs are pretty good about keeping themselves cool. They find shade, dig holes to soil that is cooler than surface temperatures and play in water when it’s available. Their body tells them to start panting if they are warm to allow water to evaporate from their mouths. Dogs can sweat between their footpads too! Provide your canine a well ventilated shady area with lots of water on warm days. On days where heat advisories are posted, dogs should be brought into air conditioning. Signs that your dog is a little warm include, panting and a significant increase in water intake. Heat exhaustion symptoms can include drooling, red gums and low urine production. Warnings for heat stroke include bright red or pale gums, drool that is thick and sticky, or absent, depression, wobbliness, vomiting and diarrhea. Any signs of bloody urine, bloody vomit or diarrhea after an overheating episode may be
Sadie
Pumba
Birds are very sensitive to temperature changes. This includes perching pet birds and chickens. Signs of a heat stressed bird include, wings being held away from the body or sagging, panting, dizziness, falling off perches or stumbling, appearing glassy eyed or unusually nervous. Any unusual behavior in birds should be addressed by a veterinarian as their instinct is to hide illness until it is unable to do so anymore.
It is important to remember that any animal can be prone to heat stress, heat exhaustion or heat stroke if environmental changes occur suddenly. This can include a sudden rise in temperature, humidity or if temperatures are unseasonably warm. Other times it is due to a failure of a cooling mechanism like fans breaking. Power outages during spring and summer can also be problematic because indoor temperatures may suddenly rise without ventilation. Most people understand that an overheated pet needs to be cooled down. However, they can be cooled too fast and this can lead to additional health problems. If a heat condition occurs, the first and most important step is to get the pet out of the heat and offer fresh cool water to drink. Ice should not be used as it can make a pet too cold too quickly. Pets in distress should be taken immediately to a veterinarian. If you are unsure what the signs of heat stress are for your particular type of pet, it is best to ask your vet before there is an issue so problems can be addressed early and quickly. Summer is a great time to be outside with your pets, just make sure everyone is enjoying it safely! By Kari Jenkins DVM, Managing Veterinarian at Savannah Animal Care
Horses are in the unique position of being large outdoor animals and having to brave a variety of weather conditions. Being outside all the time helps them adapt to seasonal changes, but sharp rises in humidity and temperature can still be of concern, particularly in working horses. Horses are able to sweat over their entire bodies, unlike dogs and cats. Signs of overheating in horses include, excessive sweating, flared nostrils, muscle tremors, elevated heart rate and fast respirations. If their body temperature gets high enough, sweating may stop completely. Reptiles are masters at adjusting their temperatures to their environments. However, they also have very specific ranges in which they can survive. Recommended pet reptile temperatures vary by species. Signs of them getting overheating include, staying exclusively on the cool side of their enclosure, going off food, sitting with neck extending and mouth open. Sometimes they will burrow if there is enough ground cover to do so.
Cree
Palmetto Animal - petango.com/pal League 8
Rooster
Trevor
Jasper Animal Rescue - JARMission.org Mission
ere in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, reefs are different from your image of large, beautiful coral surrounded by thousands of vibrantly colored fish in crystal clear water. Instead, we have razor sharp oyster beds that are barely visible due to huge numbers of reproducing phytoplankton and algae clouding the water! What our oyster reefs lack in visual beauty, they make up for in water quality production, shoreline erosion protection, nursery habitat and a delicious food source not only for bivalve eating mollusks, crustaceans, and Musteloidea (minks, otters, and raccoons), but for humans too. Because oyster reefs have such a big impact on our entire ecosystem, there is a huge push for oyster reef protection and restoration. In our pursuit of tasty morsels, people can negatively impact oyster populations. Commercial oysterman and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), therefore, work together. Part of the plan is artificial reefs, which help replenish our oyster populations. “Artificial reef” does not mean that the reef is artificial, just that the structure that allows for growth is non-biological or at least not seen in an aquatic ecosystem. Recycled crab pots, bamboo shoots, bags filled with recycled oyster shell and concrete that vary in size and shape are being used worldwide to create “structure” to support oyster growth. In Beaufort County, evidence of artificial reefs is very common thanks to the hard work of so many, including SCDNR. Sites include the Port Royal Sound Foundation (PRSF) Maritime Center, Hunting Island, Parris Island and the Sands in Port Royal. The reefs vary in materials depending on the needs of a specific site. Accessibility, extent of erosion and substrates are some of the biggest variables that determine what materials are best used. Concrete castles mixed with oyster shell are great for erosion protection and instantaneous habitat for small critters such as larval fish and blue crabs, but the 9
castles are difficult to transport. Crab pots are great because they are reusable materials and have a lot of surface area for oysters to settle on. Mesh bags filled with oyster shell create an educational experience for kids who bag as well as recycle the shell from oysters eaten during the Lowcountry’s famous oyster roasts. At PRSF’s Maritime Center, a new artificial reef pilot study for private homeowners is under way. The new reef structures are called “Segars Reef” after SCDNR Veterinarian, Dr. Al Segars. This new artificial reef design will be studied to see if it allows for natural erosion protection which is not yet available for private homeowners. The structure is designed to be low profile so that it won’t require special permitting. It will be utilized as a preventive natural solution to shoreline erosion -- much better than than waiting until the shoreline is deemed critical and having to build a seawall or
bulkhead; the latter being costly and having no ecological benefit. The ‘Segars Reef’ will be cost effective, create new habitat for sea life and will build up the shoreline by creating deposits of silt behind the reef! The pilot study reef was installed by DNR with the help of St. John Paul II Catholic School’s (JP2) environmental class taught by Heather Rembold. JP2 has also been monitoring The Maritime Center’s first artificial reef which was installed in May of 2015. The reef has seen large amounts of growth over the past 6 months. PRSF looks forward to the continued support of Heather Rembold and her students proving a few can make a big difference. For South Carolina oystermen and women, expectations are high. Their livlihood and that of future generations depends on responsibly keeping their plots filled with active
oyster beds. Reef building and enhancement are required when oysters are pulled out of a plot. This may include placing structures such as crab pots, bamboo shoots, or recycled oyster shell on a diminished bed to increase oyster spat recruitment and create the next reef for harvest. This process allows the oysters to become a renewable resource, a staple in our economy and a natural biological filter supporting our ecosystem. There are many avenues you can take to help with environmental protection. Volunteer for artificial reef builds at: http://score.dnr.sc.gov/; recycle your oyster roast shell at these locations: http://saltwaterfishing.sc.gov/ oyster.html; report abandoned crap pots at http://dnr.sc.gov/marine/ crabtraps/index.html; and don’t forget to reduce, reuse, and recycle! By Christopher Kehrer, Port Royal Sound Foundation Naturalist/ Education Directory
The Bluffton Arts & Seafood Festival is back for the twelfth year – and still growing. What started as a one-day event in 2005, has quickly become a week of festivities in historic Bluffton showcasing the arts and locally harvested seafood. Festival events are scheduled Saturday, October 15 through Sunday, October 23. What many Blufftonians and visitors may not realize is the Historic Bluffton Arts & Seafood Festival champions local conservation, in addition to artists, and restaurateurs. Each year a special event is hosted at the Waddell Mariculture Center. On Monday evening at 5:30 pm a Tour of the Waddell Mariculture Center along with Crab Pickin’ and Oyster Shuckin’ demonstrations will take place with Dr. Al Stokes on the bluff of the Colleton River. Tours abound, with a self-paced “Heritage Discovery Tour” as well as kayak and boat tours along the May River. The event features runs, and the popular children’s fishing tournament. Art in the Park and the Iron Chef Challenge are among the art and food activities that highlight the area’s diversity. Enjoy Oyster Fest on the 16th too, the first oyster roast of the season at Oyster Factory Park. Boasting tons of seafood, live entertainment, and family fun, this is one of the Lowcountry’s “must attend” festivals. Child-focused events also compliment wonderful “Date Night” opportunities like the author night and wine tasting later in the week. At just $20 - $30 per paid event, it is also one of the best deals in town. For mor info visit www.blufftonartsandseafoodfestival.com
12th Annual Historic Bluffton Arts and Seafood Festival October 15 - 23, 2016 Saturday, October 15, 2016
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
THE BLUFFTON HERITAGE DISCOVERY TOUR 10:00AM - 4:00PM Historic Bluffton
AUTHOR NIGHT - "CELEBRATE THE RICH HISTORY & CULTURE OF THE LOWCOUNTRY" 5:30PM Rotary Community Center at Oscar Frazier Park (11 Recreation Court Bluffton SC 29910). Reservations required. Call Mary at 843-815-2472 or 843-815-2474.
GOSPEL CONCERT FEATURING MARLENA SMALLS & THE HALLELUJAH SINGERS 4:30PM A.M.E. Church LOWCOUNTRY GULLAH SUPPER 5:30PM
Sunday, October 16, 2016 FRIENDS OF BLUFFTON ARTISTS 4th ANNUAL INVITATIONAL LOCAL ARTIST SHOWCASE 11:00AM - 4:00PM CALHOUN ST EMPTY BOWLS 11:00AM – 4:00PM Jacob Preston Studio, 10 Church Street BOAT PARADE ON THE MAY & BLESSING OF THE FLEET GOSPEL MUSIC 4:00PM Church of the Cross Make plans now to gather at the sandbar before 3:00PM and process to the Church of the Cross. OYSTER FEST 5:00PM - 8:00PM Bluffton Oyster Factory Park
Monday, October 17, 2016 KAYAK & PADDLE BOARD TOURS ON THE MAY RIVER MONDAY - SATURDAY Call 843-684-3296 for reservations MAY RIVER BOAT TOURS MONDAY - SATURDAY Call Capt. Chris for reservations and more information. 843-304-2878 DINNER & LEARN TOUR 5:00PM Waddell Mariculture Center Reservations required. Proceeds to Waddell Mariculture Center. Call Mary at 843-815-2472 or 843-815-2474.
Thursday, October 20, 2016 WINE TASTING 6:00PM - 8:00PM Reservations required. Call Mary at 843-815-2472 or 843-815-2474.
Saturday, October 22, 2016 10K ROAD RACE & 5K FUN RUN 8:00AM – 10:30AM Bluffton Oyster Factory Park CHILDREN’S FISHING TOURNAMENT BLUFFTON OYSTER CO. 10:00AM –12:30PM Register between 10:00AM - 10:30AM at The Bluffton Oyster Company. Weigh-In at 12:30PM at the Bluffton Oyster Company. There is no fee. Prizes will be awarded. ART & SEAFOOD STREET FEST 10:00AM – 5:00PM Historic District Bluffton ART IN THE PARK 10:00AM – 5:00PM DuBois Park on Boundary Street ROCKIN’ ON THE DOCK 6:00PM - DUSK Bluffton Oyser Co.
Sunday, October 23, 2016 ART & SEAFOOD STREET FEST 10:00AM – 4:00PM ART IN THE PARK 11:00AM – 4:00PM The “ART OF CUISINE” IRON CHEF CHALLENGE 12:00PM-2:00PM In Neptune’s Galley.
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Waddell Mariculture Center
Did you know that just up the street from you is a world-recognized mariculture research institution? Probably not, because, “Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.” Taiwan, South Africa, and English visitors have recently toured the facility. Waddell is operated by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, or SCDNR for short. They create opportunities for high school and college aged science students to do scientific research and further their education and careers. And Director Al Stokes has a vision of creating more STEM (now called STEAM) opportunities for women. “With so many wonderful young women in science, we need to find ways to make more advanced learning and career training opportunities possible in our community” said Al. One college student is studying horseshoe crabs. Doesn’t sound that exciting, until you get to know them. Eight species of migratory shore birds rely on crab eggs because they lose as much as 25% of their weight during migration. Possibly more interesting, horseshoe crab blood is used in the pharmaceutical industry! So the study on regeneration of blood and the others on reproduction have far-reaching implications. Red drum and cobia are spawned at Waddell, supporting local fisheries. A staggering percentage of local cobia carry genetic markers from the mariculture center. In the middle of a long-overdue facility update, Stokes has a few other modifications in the works, such as improving the pump equipment. The Art & Seafood Festival is a supporter of Waddell, as are other local institutions like CCA and Tails of the Lowcountry. Learn how you can help with important local sealife research, and how you can sponsor scholarships for local science students and STEM all-stars by calling (843) 837-3795.
You hate oysters? So did I. It’s hard to live in the Lowcountry and not be a fan of seafood. I love seafood. Fish, shrimp, crab, lobster, clam - all of it is right up my alley. Except oysters. It’s the texture I had a problem with, but even texture is usually bearable if there’s a good flavor. With oysters, though, my tastebuds couldn’t find any redeeming qualities to console my tongue through that horrible, slimy, chewy texture.
Until I tried a lowcountry oyster. Last fall, a friend of mine invited me to the “Shuckin’ and Shaggin’” event at Oyster Factory Park in Bluffton. I’ll admit, I went for the shagging. But after some mental arguments with myself, I finally caved and split a bucket of oysters with her. We paid the $10, gathered our cloths and shucking knives, packages of crackers and bottles of hot sauce, and squeezed between some slightly inebriated Blufftonians at the shucking table. Only seconds later, I had a close call with the shucking knife. And my hands became covered in a sandy, briny mud. I’m not really a germaphobe, but I don’t like eating with dirt on my hands. (The cloths didn’t quite cut it.) But like a good friend, I told myself that I would ignore the dirt and the cuts and the fact that I hated oysters and just try to have a good time. After much travail, my shucking knife found its way to the little creature inside. I half-cut, half-ripped it out of there, plunked it unceremoniously on a saltine, smothered it in hot sauce, and tried to fit the whole thing in my mouth without getting my muddy hands anywhere near my face.
My tastebuds were surprised. This wasn’t the oyster experience they remembered. Quickly, albeit clumsily, I shucked another oyster and repeated the process. After a few more, I ran out of crackers and decided to forego the hot sauce altogether. Shuck and eat. Shuck and eat. Far from the slimy, bland things I had choked down at buffets years before, these molluscs were tiny, delicate packages that packed a pleasant punch - a robust, slightly salty flavor. No, I didn’t forget about the salt and the dirt on my hands, but those, too, be-
gan to morph within my mind. No longer were they a hindrance to my enjoyment. Rather, they became part of a unique culinary experience. And on that evening, by the waters of the May River, beneath the dripping Spanish moss and South Carolina sky, in the midst of the humidity and no-seeums and inebriated neighbors, I learned to like oysters. What had changed? They say that your tastes change about every seven years. Perhaps mine had. But I’ve heard people around here remark about how good the oysters are, and after Shuckin’ and Shaggin’, I’m a believer. Not all oysters are created equal; an oyster is not an oyster is not an oyster. And here in the Lowcountry, farmers take their oysters seriously.
the magic behind the scenes. I was able to chat with three different oyster farmers: Frank Roberts of Lady’s Island Oysters, Andrew Carmines of Hudson’s Seafood Restaurant and Shell Ring Oyster Company, and Olivia Young of May River Oyster Company. Around here, Frank Roberts is known as the modern pioneer in responsible Lowcountry oyster farming. And he was gracious enough to give me a tour of his facility. At first I didn’t know what to think of the place. It was a concrete shell of a building, covered in tarp, out in the middle of nowhere, with a cat and her kittens 11
lazing by the makeshift door. But when I went in - well, the best way I can describe it would be a mix between Sea World and Santa’s workshop. That is where the magic happens.
the oyster version of a stork. In a nutshell, they separate the breeding oysters into small tanks until they develop large gonads and are ready to spawn. Oysters are what is known as
protandic hermaphrodites, meaning that they produce sperm the first few spawning seasons and then start producing eggs two or three years into their lives. In other words, there’s just no way to tell what the oysters are going to do until they do it. The females release the eggs into the water, the males release the sperm, and the fertilized eggs begin the process of cell division, developing into larvae. This is one of the most temperamental stages: conditions have to be nearly perfect or the entire crop can be wiped out. “These little creatures can be cantankerous,” agrees Olivia Young. Feeding off algae cultivated there at the hatchery, the larvae are free-swimming for a week or two until they develop a “foot” and an “eye.” These swimmers
are less than two millimeters long, so they have to be studied under a microscope to determine when they’ve actually reached this stage.
know I didn’t . . . *cough cough*)
Studying moving subjects can prove tricky, though. “There are some days you look into the microscope,” says Frank, “and it looks like the bar scene from the first Star Wars movie.” But once the foot forms, it’s time for the oysters to, well, put their foot down.
It’s all sunshine and seawater from there. Frank and his team move the growing oysters to silos outside, pumping seawater in and then back out into the marsh. Oysters act as natural filters, so farmers are actually leaving the environment better than they found it. Just as trees make the air cleaner, oysters make the water cleaner. “We take that little shell for granted,” says Olivia, “but it’s so important to the ecosystem.”
oysters don't start with the shells, huh?
let them work. let them live.
It is at this stage that farmers like Andrew Carmines and the Youngs purchase the oysters. Because Shell Ring, begun in 2013, and May River, started in 2015, are newer companies, they haven’t expanded yet to include a hatchery. So they buy their seed from older companies like Frank’s.
Speaking of the ecosystem, all three companies seem to be on the same page. One of Andrew’s goals with Shell Ring is to “produce more oysters than we could ever take out, so you get all of the environmental benefits of that, and then you also have oysters for commercial sale. A plus for the environment.”
Then these footsy larvae have one chance to attach themselves to something and begin the growing process. They are placed in tanks with substrate - a.k.a., crushed oyster shells. If the oyster shells are ground too fine, the larvae can’t latch on. If they are ground too large, more than one will latch on and a cluster will form.
That being said, you know you’re getting a healthy oyster around here. As Frank likes to say, “Seawater in. Seawater out.” And though it isn’t the clearest or the bluest, our seawater’s pretty healthy.
Clusters aren’t bad, but oysters are cultivated mainly to be sold to chefs, who prefer single oysters for both ease of use and presentation. (Also, cluster oysters are usually smaller and narrower than single oysters because they’ve had to duke it out for food, space, and sunlight. Kind of like starving college students fighting their roommates for the last of the ramen.) The larva secretes a kind of glue and attaches itself to the piece of crushed oyster shell. After that, its foot dissolves and the baby oyster uses the calcium carbonate in the water to form its shell. (Come on, you didn’t think that oysters were born with their shells on, did you? I 12
With May River Oyster Company, Olivia says they want to “provide a great oyster to our restaurant and to our public. Part of that includes keeping the oysters healthy to keep the ecosystem healthy.”
Enjoyed Part 1? To find out more about the fascinating world of oysters, pick up the next copy of Tails of the Lowcountry. I will be continuing the journey into the world of these sea creatures and talking more with Frank, Andrew, and Olivia about the trials and triumphs of the business By Hannah Seigworth, Editor at Tails Photos Credited to Coastal Discovery Museum
on to never change? Habu. I have adopted countless animals since Habu. Old cats, mean cats, old dogs, kittens, and one rowdy puppy. Who took it all in stride and was always the one in quiet control? Who else but Habu. He remained the same until a couple months ago. Yes, he was older, thinner, and finally more affectionate. In the last two months, our kitchen looked like it was set up for Habu - barstools touching each other, grip pads on the bar, and a stool so he could jump from floor to counter. He spent almost all his time in the kitchen, and we adjusted. In his later years he would sit next to me (never on my lap) when I drank my morning coffee. I remember thinking, “finally.” I have lost many animals. It was hard. But Habu was different. He signified my youth and my life’s journey. He was my Habu, and he was always there. Did I mention that this cat slept on the end of our bed every night for 20 years, minus the last 2 months? The hardest decision was the decision. The morning I made the appointment with the vet, I asked God to give me a sign. The reply: “How many more do you need?” I had my answer. It was the longest day. He still ate, and he was aware enough to not be very nice at the vet’s office. This made me smile. He still hadn’t changed, and I found strength in his fighting spirit. After the vet administered medicine to help him relax, we were given time to spend with Habu. I surprised myself - I wasn’t crying as much as I had expected. Probably because I had already shed so many tears and was emotionally exhausted. In our final moments together, I kissed Habu and said, “I got the right kitten, but you already knew that a long time ago, didn’t you?” Then I held him in my arms and cried. So for now, my monkey-faced boy, give em’ hell in heaven, and kiss Topper for me. The house is way too quiet without you. Oh, and thanks, Mom, for your words of advice. I am glad I listened!
was young. Just out of school. I had a good job and a place of my own, and I finally didn’t have to ask my parents to get a pet. I could just do it. The search began. I was going to adopt from a local animal shelter when a friend mentioned that her Angora cat just had kittens. I wanted a male kitten. Not really sure why, other than we always had male cats growing up. The day arrived, and she brought the kittens to work. I spent time with all of them and selected a beautiful boy! Once they were old enough, she delivered my new baby. I remember the day vividly. He was perfect. He was sweet, wanted to play and cuddle, and was just what I imagined a new kitten would be like.
She had given me a girl. This wouldn’t be a problem except this kitten already had an intended family. I was heartbroken. I had already fallen in love, but my friend came that same day to give me my boy. Habu. Habu was the EXACT opposite of his sister. He was hyper, hissy, and didn’t want to be held at all. I thought he just needed to settle in, but he never did calm down! He was a spitfire. Despite the scratching boards and toys in the house, Habu chose to scratch everything else - me most often. He also didn’t want to be held for longer than a minute. Wow, was I disappointed. One particularly trying week I had just taken him to the vet for one of his shots. I called my mom, in tears, and exclaimed, “Habu is bad cat, and I can’t take it.” My mother said, “Melissa, animals are a lifelong commitment, and you don’t get rid of them.” Of course I knew this; I was just upset. What did I do, though? I decided Habu needed a friend. Enter Topper, a shy, black-and-white-tuxedo shelter kitten. It was an instant connection. In fact, Topper was the only cat Habu ever really liked. Did Habu become the perfect cat I wanted? The answer: absolutely not. However, Habu seemed much more content having a feline buddy! Fast-forward several years filled with happiness, celebrations, death, divorce, a new relationship, marriage, a new house, a new job, and many more animal additions. Who was my constant? None other than Habu. What could I count
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ot long ago, and quite all of the sudden, our normally happy-to-eat labradoodle began to eat a little less and bound out the door a little slower. Google told me that it could be serious, and it could also be an attitude problem. If there was ever a dog with a personality, a bit of an attitude, an “I-dowhat-I-like-like-stealing-bread-off-thecounter” dog, it is Chewie. Not long before, he had visited his grandmother, who had lavishly spoiled him and gotten a new bag of food. A day went by, and then another. He really didn’t seem to be that interested in eating, but he was happy to eat a leftover peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The next day though, I noticed some bread in his bowl. Now THAT was unusual. Not one to get too crazy over spilt milk (three kids will do that to you), I cracked an egg and gave it to Chewie. He loves eggs. He did not eat it. It was time, I surmised, to talk to my husband about the situation. Hard at work, he noticed that Chewie’s food was hanging out in his bowl a bit longer than usual, but had not put one and one together. “Not to worry you, but I think there is something wrong with the dog.” “Why do you say that” responded my husband. “Well, you noticed he hasn’t been eating his food quite like usual. It’s been three days since he ate. Yesterday I tried to give him an egg and he didn’t eat it. And he is super lethargic. I’m getting worried.” Not to complain, but my husband isn’t always the warmest and cuddliest. He had a look of genuine unease. Joe comprehended what our dog not eating an egg meant. A quick Google yielded the same results. Attitude. Cancer. The range is scary, and he testily said “well, are you planning to take him to the vet or what? Do you want him to die if he is really sick?” Not to say too much about our communication, but that was NOT THE RIGHT ANSWER. I had already considered the ramifications of him not being treated. Treatment can be expensive, and he is a dog (please see a complimentary online piece talking about my complex feelings on this issue). Plus, what if it was terminal? With a new baby coming and so many other challenges, were any of us ready for this? Not wanting to delay the inevitable, I grabbed my cell phone and placed a call to our local vet, the Riverwalk Animal Hospital. I told them about the symptoms and they said to bring him that morning. Chewie would be squeezed in an already busy day. And it was a good thing he was said Doctor O’Quinn. The diagnosis was an autoimmune disease. Left untreated, he probably would not have made it through the weekend I was told. Not to alarm anyone reading this, but it was a big deal. Chewie had to stay at the hospital over the weekend on an IV. We were told even with treatment, he may die. He had a few great things going for him, we caught the disease, he is young, he is healthy, but it would take a day or so to see if he responded favorably to the medication. His blood count would tell the tale. Not to be left out, my mother-in-law insisted on seeing him. The animal hospital was extremely accommodating, allowing us to come in during off-hours to when they were checking on other boarded animals on-site. 14
It was a good thing because his visitors helped him to eat his food, which contained his medicine. In case you are wondering, he got better.
NOT TO PREACH, BUT CHEWIE ONLY SURVIVED BECAUSE WE GOT HIM TO THE VET IN TIME. I am so grateful to have paid just enough attention to him to notice the change in his eating pattern and activity level. A single egg was a small price to pay to figure out without doubt that he was not throwing me ‘tude, and that it was something medical. I’d recommend, knowing how bad I would have felt if our loving family dog had died because of our inaction, when in doubt, take your animal to a vet! By Ande Nehila, Associate Publisher of Tails of the Lowcountry
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n the coastal banks, nestled among the old oaks, beats the heart of a people. Gullah Geechee were brought to the Lowcountry centuries ago as human labor. Slaves. But the story does not start on the shores of the New World, it begins in Western Africa. And the story does not end with slavery. The narrative is still being written by men and women who pass down a tradition of ingenuity and self-reliance that tames land and harnesses sea, through an unbridled spirit of family, community, and love. Patricia Elaine Sabree, “Sabree,” was born into a sharecropping family in Lake City, South Carolina. Lake City, says Sabree, is known for crops, dusky flats, wetland, fishing, and more snakes now than when she grew up. One of fourteen siblings, Sabree connected with the land at a young age. Now a successful artist portraying the energy and exuberance of youth, as well as the beauty and depth of love, Sabree was no stranger to hard work.
“Fishing was a pastime for all of us. After school. After work. And when I say after work, I mean after picking tobacco, cotton, beans, watermelon. And not just a few acres, but hundreds” recalls Sabree. Then, Sabree added wistfully, “we would fish with sugar cane when I was coming up. This one time, Momma was so proud. She said, ‘I caught a big one,’ but when it came up, it was a big ol’ black snake, and she beat it with her sugar cane.” These are the memories that inform Sabree’s art, a careful study in color, life, and joy. Water plays a major role, due to the nature of its connection to spirituality. Her spirituality comes through the line of strong women in her family, as do certain gifts that are bestowed upon these women. Removed from the heritage of bondage, Sabree recalls playing in cotton and knows that children had those same moments of joy for generations. This is a common theme among the Gullah people, slavery is not forgotten, but it never did, and it never will, hold down the people. Instead, the cultural heritage passed down is one of self-reliance and fortitude. Consider Ed Atkins Jr., a fishing icon from Beaufort. “I’m more likely in the river and out of the river than anyone else.” He received his first cast net when he was 3 years old, a 4-foot net from his father. These days, tying a cast net by hand is an all-but-lost art form, but Ed does still make crab traps by hand. Wire frame traps! “Last year, I made about 50 of them with my friend,” said Ed. His father, Ed Atkins Sr., taught him how to be a man, and how to make ends meet. Ed’s skills have kept food on his table for dozens of years. Whether looking for something to eat, a few extra dollars, or to trade with farmers, fishing is the way
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for Ed. He maintains a small bait shop, and his love is shrimping with a cast net -- a love instilled from his youth. Whether working with the military or performing odd jobs, after punching out you can always find Ed on the water. This calls to mind a segment on Bizzare Foods with Andrew Zimmern and Daufuskie Island Gullah Chef Sallie Ann Robinson. Preparing racoon, and a number of other local delicacies, she shows the renown chef a bit about how her family has lived off the land and sea for years. This is a common thread that harkens all the way back to when these families were first forced into our area. Hanif Hanes, President of Pin Point Betterment Association, tells a small group. “People sometimes believe the slave traders took anyone, but not so. They brought people with skills, like tribes that knew rice cultivation.” Men and women, crammed on merchant ships, greatly shaped the land so many now call home. Karen Bell noted, “following the settlement of Savannah in 1733, slaves from South Carolina cleared land, tended cattle, and labored on farms. By the late 1740s slaves from South Carolina were openly sold in Savannah.” Soon thereafter the slave trade was legalized in Georgia. She continued, “the demand for African slave labor increased with the establishment of rice and Sea Island cotton plantations in the Georgia Lowcountry. As rice became a profitable export crop in coastal Georgia, merchants in
was left primarily to black people to manage, even during slavery. “I know my great great grandaddy was a slave, but they were more like they were free a long time ago because only black people were here. The masters lived somewhere else, and went further north. Slaves ran all these plantations.” Both men were quick to add that these comments were to the best of their knowledge and only referenced this area, not places like the Caribbean, which were known to be vastly different.
Savannah imported Africans from the rice and grain coast of West Africa, which extended from the Senegambian region to Sierra Leone.” There is debate where the name Gullah and Geechee came from, but little debate about the significance. More than 70 unique tribes from a variety of countries make up this amalgamated culture who thrived both in the Lowcountry and slightly inland, with a common creole.
Families were left to work for themselves in the off hours, and the skills that were first transferred unceremoniously from Africa to the Southeast were passed from parent to child, along with new ones. “During slavery many of our household possession were hand-made. My great grandfather and grandfather were skilled wood workers and farmers. I also have the skill to use nature -- gourds -- as a tool and beautiful art. The gourd is one of the tools that came with our people from Africa. They were used as water containers, bowls, spoons, body shields, and more,” shared artisan Mary Ann Moore Anderson. The desire to reconnect with her roots drove Patrice to return to her ancestral land. A selfproclaimed member of the Gullah Geechee diaspora, her mother was the youngest of twelve children. “I sat around listening to stories of how the farm was run - crops that were grown and eaten right out of the field. Talk of eating the heart out of the watermelon and throwing away the rest right there in the field. Talk of growing sugar cane for molasses, and the time someone else’s mule got loose and the boys on the farm tied that mule to grind the cane all day and night. By time the rightful owner found his mule it was quite worn out.”
Sustainable practices were passed down along with skills on the water. “A lot of the early practices that our fishermen used from our community, that’s what conservation groups like Coastal Conservation Association use today such as oyster shell recycling” said Hanif. On the subject of slavery he added, “From what I learned, the slavery that was on Ossabaw [Island] was different than hardcore slavery. It was sort of the task system. You worked for the master, and then you were able to work for yourself. They were able to accumulate foods and sell their own products. The Bond family were self sufficient when they stepped foot on Pin Point. That enabled them to support many people, black and white.” Ed shared a similar sentiment to Hanif regarding the way plantations were run, saying that based on his family’s history the Saint Helena area
Another artist, Patrice M. Cole, moved to her mother’s birthplace, an 88-acre 20th century working farm that belonged to her grandfather. This inspired Sistah-tude, a company that specialized in African-inspired dolls. “I did a doll earlier in 2016 for the Gullah Art Exhibit at Art League of Hilton Head. I called her ‘Grannies playin Hookie’ [sic]. This doll represents a Grandmother who made the decision to do exactly what she wants for the day, which is to go fishing.”
Listening to Hanif, he shared similar stories of reconnecting his people to their heritage. It is no wonder he is working with the Coastal Heritage Society. “One of our community members was in downtown Savannah at an event. His niece was there and she told him afterwards, ‘Now I’m proud to be from Pin Point.’” With such large families, many African Americans can trace their heritage to the Gullah Geechee, with possibly their most notable public figure being Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Clarence grew up in Pin Point, and moved when he was about seven. His nickname, an important right of passage in the community, is “Boy.” Interestingly, fishing, crabbing, and shrimping were not so much a right of passage as just a way of life. Ed remembered his father giving him his first castnet, and that began a lifelong love affair with shrimping and casting. Sabree’s upbringing so influenced her art that her originals often have mixed media with found materials, the grasses, cotton, and leaves of her youth. One piece shows a person sitting on a tree making a basket. Why? “Up in the tree you were safe from the dangers in the fields and marsh” said Sabree. Along the same lines, artisanal basket weaver Jery Taylor recalls fishing, shrimping, and crabbing as she grew up on Boone Hall Plantation. Bogging for crabs was her favorite, a skill she learned at six or seven years of age.
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She recalls the tricks she learned in her youth, like putting meat on a line and throwing a net to catch crabs. Farming skills gave way to green thumbs in the garden. “We ate everything out of the garden, and had plum trees and pear trees. My neighbors had apple trees. We used to have fun and climb up the vines of the fox scrape trees. Of course we collected chinquapin nuts, which you could pop open when ripe and use to make necklaces and bracelets” recalled Jery. It’s a heritage of pain that brings about great beauty for Jery. “I don’t feel that a person of another race could ever really begin to understand why I paint about my life. If you haven’t walked the road, there is no way you can begin to imagine the struggle of what we went through. I paint about those times that came about because of what we came here to do -which was a job. It was a job that we came here to do that made this nation so rich. I want them to be recognized for all the hard work they put it. Slavery isn’t something that we can just forget about and we don’t want people to forget.” There are no excuses for not taking care of yourself, and your family says Ed. He doesn’t like to hear people say things like “I don’t have enough money to feed my family” because there are plenty of natural resources. He equates this attitude to laziness. “You can go out with a net, or a pole, even after work, and bring in dinner” said Ed. Hanif added a similar sentiment, saying that he does not eat traditional meats but he does eat fish. Despite his diet’s heavy reliance on fish, he said he has not paid for it in more than 15 years.
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Clearly, self reliance, family, and community are at the center of the Gullah Geechee culture. The sense of community is what Hanif highlighted as his most important message to the rising generation. Whether you consider the Gullah/ Geechee Famlee Day that just passed in July, the Music & Movement Festival for 2016 in August titled “A Celebration of Self-Determination,” Unity in the Community in September or the big Seafood Festival in October, it’s all about those ideals. “Baskets are always passed down from generation to generation. Whether the the next generation continues it, it isn’t clear. Nowadays younger generations don’t want to do the hard work anymore,” opines Jery. “They want the money right away. In order for the younger generation to carry on the tradition they need to understand the hard work that goes into basket weaving.”
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Hard work. Baskets are hard work. And so is casting a net from sunup to sundown. And bogging for crabs. Fishing. Hunting. Painting. Cooking. Weaving. Farming. Gardening. These are hard things that take time in the doing every time, and time to master. Men and women like Ed, Sabree, Patrice, Mary Ann, Jery, Hanif, they put in the hours beginning in their youth. “Our lives are always related to our past. I say learn well, the lesson history has to teach. Honor your ancestors and see your cultural heritage. Bondage was a lesson and a key to us as people. Look back but never step back.” - Mary Anderson By Joe Nehila, Managing Editor at Tails of the Lowcountry Want More? Read about each featured individual @ tailsofthelowcountry.com 17
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INTRO TO ea turtles are marine reptiles. This means that they are ectothermic, or cold-blooded; breathe air; are oviparous, or lay their eggs externally; and have scaly skin. Scientists believe that these marine turtles evolved from their land ancestors by adapting hydrodynamic shells for fast movement in the water and flippers in place of legs for powerful swimming. There are seven species of sea turtles found in the world: green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhead, Kemp’s ridley, olive ridley and flatback. All seven species are endangered or threatened. Four of the species are native to the coast of South Carolina: green, loggerhead, Kemp’s ridley, and leatherback.
Leatherback Sea Turtle
Hawksbill Sea Turtle
(Eretmochelys imbricata): critically endangered Adults can weigh between 60 and 200 pounds. This turtle’s name comes from its narrow face and birdlike beak. Its diet consists mainly of sponges, and its desired habitat is a healthy coral reef. Hawksbills nest in the Caribbean and Pacific in 14- to 16-day intervals.
Green Sea Turtle
(Chelonia mydas): endangered The average adult weighs between 200 and 500 pounds and can grow to be 40 inches in length. Carapace coloring is olive brown to black. These turtles eat an herbivorous diet composed of seagrass, algae and seaweeds. Most of these turtles nest on tropical beaches like Hawaii between May and August.
(Dermochelys coriacea): vulnerable This is the largest of all living turtles. Adult males can grow longer than 9 feet and weigh more than 2000 pounds. The turtle’s carapace colors range from dark brown to black, and its plastron, or underside, is a paler whitish color, giving the turtle a countershading effect. This turtle is found worldwide, sometimes even swimming in icy waters. Nesting sites for leatherbacks vary depending on location.
Loggerhead Sea Turtle
(Caretta caretta): vulnerable Adult turtles vary in size from 200 to 400 pounds. The carapace reaches 30 to 42 inches in length and is a reddish-brown color. Geographically, this species is found as far north as Newfoundland and as far south as Argentina. The largest nesting grounds for these turtles is in Florida between March and June.
Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle
Species
(Lepidochelys kempii): critically endangered The rarest of all the sea turtles, Kemp’s ridleys average about 75 to 100 pounds and are olivegrey to grey in coloring. Ninety-five percent of Kemp’s ridleys nest at the same beach on the east coast of Mexico. The Kemp’s ridley lives as far north as Maine and as far south as Mexico.
Information:
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Sea Turtle Life Cycle:
Flatback Sea Turtle
(Natator depressus): data deficient, previously vulnerable Originally part of the green turtle family, this turtle was placed into its own genus. This turtle grows to be about 35 inches, and its coloring varies from gray to pale green. These carnivorous turtles eat jellyfish, sea cucumbers and soft corals. Nesting only occurs in the Gulf of Carpentaria north of Australia for two weeks in the summer.
Sea turtles have four life cycle stages: egg, hatchling, juvenile and adult. Each species of sea turtle has a different age range for sexual maturity. For example, the loggerhead does not become sexually mature until it is 20 to 30 years old. Once a sea turtle is ready to nest, the female will come to shore and dig a nest, depositing on average 110 eggs per nest, two to five times a season. The eggs take about two months to incubate, and hatchlings can take up to four days to emerge. The hatchlings emerge and make their way to the ocean in the evening when temperatures are cooler.
Sea Turtle Recovery™ at the South Carolina Aquarium:
Olive Ridley Sea Turtle
(Lepidochelys olivacea): vulnerable These turtles are small, with adults averaging 75 to 100 pounds. Olive ridleys are found in pantropical habitats including the southern Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans and have a wide, omnivorous diet. Olive ridleys come ashore simultaneously to lay their eggs in mass nesting events called arribadas.
Founded in 2000, the South Carolina Aquarium’s Sea Turtle Hospital is a world-renowned center for innovative animal care and a celebrated center for conservation education. Each year, the hospital’s talented animal care team admits and treats up to 30 turtles. The team has released more than 190 healthy patients back into the ocean. The Sea Turtle Hospital has treated all four of the sea turtle species found in South Carolina’s coastal waters. The turtles are admitted for a variety of reasons including boat strikes, bacterial or fungal infections, entanglement, plastics ingestion and shock from cold water exposure. After treatment and rehabilitation by our dedicated staff of medical experts, biologists and volunteers, the turtles are returned back into the wild. 20
In fall 2016, the Aquarium will break ground on an expanded, state-of-the-art sea turtle treatment and rehabilitation facility in full public view. Slated for opening in May 2017, Sea Turtle Recovery™ will serve as a living exhibit and an interactive learning landscape. The exhibit will present the remarkable journey from rescue, to rehabilitation, to release that each patient experiences and will allow guests to share in this journey. The exhibit will address the issues of water quality, marine debris, plastics consumption, and environmental advocacy to educate guests on the plight of these beloved animals. Through state-of-the-art technology and interactive experiences, Sea Turtle Recovery™ will tell sea turtles’ critical conservation story.
How you can Help Sea Turtles You can help protect threatened and endangered sea turtles. If you find a sick or injured sea turtle, contact the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources’ sea turtle hotline at (800) 922-5431. In Georgia, call (800) 272-8363. To read about patients being treated by the Aquarium or to track their recovery progress, visit the Sea Turtle Rescue Program blog at scaquarium. org. Follow the South Carolina Aquarium on Facebook and Twitter for the latest updates from the hospital, including public sea turtle release details. If you are interested in tracking the nests from the 2016 season, visit seaturtle.org You will find a full recap of the South Carolina and Georgia Sea Turtle Seasons in our next issue. By Josephine O'Brien, South Carolina Aquarium Leatherback Photo Credited to South Carolina Aquarium
ickness. Death. Financial ruin. What helps us through these times? Some people escape through books, alcohol, food, exercise, or other means. And some people cling to a hope that something better awaits - in this life or the next. For the Edenfields, faith was everything. Faith . . . and sea turtles. When Silas Edenfield was just three years old, he was diagnosed with liver cancer. Months before, his mother Jessica had noticed that her son’s belly had started protruding. She questioned the pediatrician about it but was assured that the belly issue was nothing significant just a growth spurt. Only when his stomach kept growing and Silas began complaining of breathing problems months later did doctors decide to do blood work, a CT scan, and x-rays to determine if there was a bigger issue. That led to a biopsy, which led to the final verdict: Stage 4 Hepatoblastoma. Malignant tumor of the liver. Cancer. Officially, the kind of the news no parent ever wishes to hear. The
Edenfields’s lives were forever changed. At the stage when most parents would be taking their kids to playdates, teaching them how to read, and sending them to preschool, Archie and Jessica were running Silas to chemo, in and out of hospitals in a never-ending sea of swirling emotions, good and bad days, hope and prayer.
Hope Springs Eternal, and from Sea Turtles One hospital visit changed Silas’s life. What? A simple children’s show, Go, Diego, Go!. And the episode? All about sea turtles. Silas fell in love. During his 10-day hospital stay, Jessica recounts that “he watched that episode, I would say, literally 100 times. He just loved it.” For a little boy whose life now consisted of chemo, pain, and fatigue, loving something this intensely was huge. From then on, his mom supplied him with a steady stream of books, documentaries, and activities all about the creatures. “There was a room in the hospital that was his favorite,” she says, “because it was covered in sea turtles.” The little boy even got a pair of shoes from Peach’s Neet Feet, an organization that hand-paints shoes for children with disabilities and serious illnesses. What did they have on them? Sea turtles. But only the “realistic-looking ones with the small eyes.” Silas didn’t like the cartoonish ones
with big eyes. He was a purist, even at a young age.
Joy Spreads Happily, an episode that did not involve coughing or discomfort. Sea Turtles was the feature. News about Silas and his love for sea turtles washed over his admirers like a wave. Spreading had no connection to cancer. Instead, love and joy. A staff member of the South Carolina Aquarium drove from Charleston to the Edenfield home in Georgia, bringing him stuffed animals and spending several hours with the family, trying to make Silas’s world a little brighter.
A fellow churchgoer, Emily Stump, also wanted to do something special for the little boy. After seeing a flyer for the annual Tybee Turtle Trot, she called the Georgia Sea Turtle Center and asked whether the turtle to be released had been named yet. It hadn’t. Emily recounted Silas’s
The Impact of Freedom It could be said that the story of Silas the sea turtle is similar to that of Silas the boy. Shortly after the Turtle Trot and just ten days before his fifth birthday, Silas the boy passed away. Surrounded by a family who loved him, he was released to his permanent home, where he was cured of cancer forever. “Losing a child is one of the most difficult losses a family can experience,” Jessica says, “but it has been a lot easier knowing that Silas is in heaven. We have that hope. We have that joy. He is with Jesus, and as hard as this life is, we know that we will see him again.”
story to Rehab Director Michelle Kaylor. Touched, Kaylor decided to name the loggerhead after the little boy. Additionally, she invited all of the Edenfields to the center for a behind-thescenes tour. That day had been especially difficult for Silas, but he wanted to go and enjoyed seeing his namesake. The loggerhead had been found in Cape Cod Bay that winter with ulcerations on its shell, stunned from the cold. But the turtle had a lot of fight in it and, after months of rehab, was ready to go home. The date of the Turtle Trot drew near, but the boy’s health was quickly declining. His family wasn’t sure if he would be well enough to make the event. But he did. Amidst a gauntlet of people, from underneath a mountain of blankets and an army of stuffed sea turtles, the tenacious four-yearold saw his turtle crawl to freedom. It was a day of hope. A day where a Silas was made well again and returned home.
Heaven was something he had been looking forward to and enjoyed talking about with his mom. A short while before his passing, Jessica had filmed one of their talks. Six days after her little boy’s death, she posted the video to YouTube, simply titled “Silas on Heaven.” “That video is his greatest legacy,” she admits with confidence. “It has been seen all over the world and translated into many different languages. To this day, we continue to hear from complete strangers about how Silas led them to Jesus.” Three years after being posted to YouTube, and seen by over 200,000 people, the love, joy, and faith of Silas live on for all to witness.
The Product of Faith But as wonderful as the video was, the Edenfields didn’t want his legacy to end there. In lieu of flowers, they requested that funeral-goers donate to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. Since then, they have also contributed to St. Balderick’s Foundation, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, and CURE Childhood Cancer, an organization that supports families facing childhood cancer, while also sponsoring research and clinical trials to find cures. Every year, they also hold a toy drive in the community with their three other boys, Michael, Gideon, and Jason. On the week of Silas’s birthday, June 4th, they deliver the toys to the children’s hospital. “Even if we can’t throw a party for Silas, that doesn’t mean we can’t help other children have a special day.” 22
Silas may not have overcome cancer on earth, but his legacy has. Millions of people have heard the story of a little boy and his faith. If you’re in the midst of your own trial, look up the video “Silas on Heaven.” And in years to come, through life’s ups and downs, remember the child whose family, faith, and love of sea turtles saw him through until his release. An end that was actually a beginning - a new home, a new body, and a new life forever. And in the meantime, if you’re ever driving down the road and spot a struggling turtle, stop and help it along its way. The Edenfields do.
By Hannah Seigworth Editor at Tails Turtle Photos Credited to South Carolina Aquarium
Editor’s Note: If you’d like to support the annual toy drive, you’ll have to wait until next year. Follow the Edenfields at fb.com/prayingforsilas - and expect a reminder from the Tails team next year!
Ande Nehila writes during naptime. A partner at Nosoco, she corrals children and the family labradoodle. These days Ande enjoys spending time with her new daughter, that Ande can dress in pink and decorate with bows.
Joe Nehila is the Creative Director of Tails of the Lowcountry and owner of Nosoco. Joe bangs his head against the wall wishing that people, including his wife, respected “deadlines”. His creative team works tirelessly to bring Tails to the masses every two months.
Justin Smith is a lifelong lover of unlovable animals. He has kept a large variety of reptiles, amphibians, and arachnids over the course of a passion that goes back to the young age of 6. In his spare time Justin enjoys cigars, music, reading, and annoying neighborhood wildlife with a camera. A Beaufort native, he resides on Lady’s Island. Justin currently breeds Crested Geckos.
Sharon Bordeaux lives in Savannah and writes about animals, environmental issues and local history. She wonders if donkeys make good house pets. As a child her parents would not let her have a dog, so she tried domesticating ants and fuzzy caterpillars. The insects did not respond well. Although she continues to appreciate insects, her relationships with mammals have proved to be more rewarding.
Melissa Hallbeck was actively involved with the Hilton Head Humane Association for over 8 years. In August she left to pursue another love, healthcare. She and her husband remain active in the pet community with their animals and with animal related causes in the community.
Josephine O’Brien moved to South Carolina from New Jersey to pursue a Biology and Communication degree at the College of Charleston. The first in her family to graduate from college, she has a passion for animals and organizations out to make a positive impact. Starting her career at the South Carolina Aquarium was a dream come true, and when she is not at the aquarium, you find her at the movies, reading, and cooking with friends and family.
Kieran Paulsen is a soon-to-be graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design. He is an Equestrian Studies major with equal interests in riding and writing. He blogs about both at transequestrian.wordpress.com.
Kari Jenkins is the managing veterinarian of the Coastal Empire’s care practices, including Savannah Animal Care, Tybee Animal Care, and Whitmarsh Animal Care. Dr. Jenkins enjoys working with all types of animals, travel, photography, SCUBA diving and boating. Her furry family consists of two dogs, three cats, and two guinea pigs.
Jane Payne is a prolific blogger, covering self reliance, thriftiness, and homesteading. Prior to her blog, Jane had a loyal following of individuals in the West who subscribed to a newsletter. She has a gaggle of children, and now grandchildren. Two of her favorites cause her to spend a few weeks in Okatie each summer. These days Jane passes her time as an empty nester, teaching, and taking on unusual projects with her husband of 34 years, Calvin.
Linda Burton is a Beaufort County literacy teacher, mom to three great college kids, and lover of all animals. As a kid, she lived on a farm and had a favorite chicken named Henrietta. With her dogs, Daisy and Harley, she isn’t an ‘empty nester’ because they are the children who will never leave home. As much as she has tried, she has given up on the ‘no dogs on the couch’ rule. She just keeps the vacuum cleaner nearby.
Tiffani Taylor is the owner/ operator of Tiffani Taylor Gallery in downtown Savannah and the founder of Savannah Art Walk. While camping in the mountains, her grandmother and Tiffani picked wildflower bouquets while grandma pointed out the brilliantly red Indian paint brush, the delicate billows of the dandelion, and the hummingbirds that touched her heart. A SCAD graduate, Tiffani pursues her passion creating every day.
Hannah Seigworth turned in her latte machine for a Mac at Nosoco. After her parents, her cat, Buttons, is her biggest fan. Two of Hannah’s favorite pastimes are sleeping and eating, both of which are passions she and her cat share. Hannah will be the podcast maven of the upcoming Tails series.
Chris Kehrer is the Naturalist/Education Coordinator at Port Royal Sound Foundation Maritime Center. From Savannah, he attended the University of South Carolina Beaufort and graduated in December 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in Biology. He explored the spawning habits of Sciaenid fish (red drum, black drum, spotted sea trout) and volunteers at Waddell Mariculture Center.
Mira Scott is a Hilton Head artist and owns Picture This Gallery. Her zoo-keeping, dolphin-training Scottish French-Canadian father nurtured her understanding and love for the creatures of the woods, sky, and water. Her mother’s Russian-Polish heritage has influenced her work with her use of detailed repetitive patterns often seen in European folk work. She lives art.
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erhaps like many, I have a love-hate relationship with life in the wild: watching birds carry branches and twine to build nests, deer and elk feeding in the meadows, squirrels running from branch to branch in the trees, ants carrying crumbs to their hill, frogs & cicadas chirping in the moonlight, fish jumping in the lake, dolphins feeding in the tidal marsh, alligators basking on the bank, coyotes barking and howling – all of these are familiar and loved sights and sounds. Watching animals in their habitat with their habits is restorative and informative. I’ve learned much watching animals in their natural environment. Consider three lessons I’ve learned from birds: I anticipate the return of the birds each spring. One year they returned with a thud. Early one morning I heard the clear notes from a solitary bird even before the sun was up. Soon after, while cooking breakfast, I heard a thump. Our kids hurried to the living room window and cried, “Quick! You gotta see this!” A hawk was outside in the flowerbed with an injured bird in his claws. One bird’s misfortune of hitting the window pane had become another bird’s breakfast fortune. Lesson one taught to me by the birds:
Life isn’t fair, but it doesn’t mean it can’t be good. The life of a bird is filled with adventures and hard luck; few die of old age, which make their songs especially beautiful. Birds chirp and sing amidst the risks, rain or shine, few species are as optimistic. I read where one sweet, caged and unmated female canary laid eggs and was so happy that she offered food to the unfertilized eggs and 24
chattered and chirped as if willing them to hatch. Contrast that with the turtle that lays her eggs and then leaves. Not one word of encouragement or advice to her young. Lesson two taught by the birds:
Face life with optimism and encourage others within your influence. Birds travel light and make their accommodations with what is at hand. Nests are made or lined with dryer lint, hair, string, mud, twigs, tinsel, twine, and leaves. Each year, as a couple, the male and female birds either build or extensively remodel their homes – a trial for even the hardiest human marriages – and they do it debt free. Lesson three:
Be self-reliant and work on a harmonious relationship with your spouse. Even the alligators who rest under the same shady tree at the same time each hot day have taught me by remote example that a little sun goes a long way, a good daily routine should not be messed with, and it’s good to conserve energy in the heat of the day for a nice evening. Neither can I underestimate the influence of the story of the Grasshopper and the Ant. I suppose every child of the 60’s grew up on it. I listened to it on the record player and loved it, notwithstanding the static and skips. As the story goes, the ants stored food in their hill for the cold winter days while the grasshopper loafed, laughed at the ants, and played his wings as he sang, “Oh, the world owes me a living. Deedle dardle doodle deedle dum. If I worked hard all day I might sleep badder when in bed at night. Deedle dardle doodle deedle dum.” The winter winds came and the grasshopper got sick, hungry, and nearly froze. The ants took pity on him, made him a mustard plaster, and he soon grew better. The grasshopper changed his tune and instead began to
sing, “Oh, I owe the world a living. Deedle dardle doodle deedle dum. You ants were right the time you said you’ve got to work for all you get. Deedle dardle doodle deedle dum.” The ants’ example in this story has motivated me for more than thirty years to store enough food to last through hard times. Yes, perhaps like you, I’ve loved learning from the animal kingdom and watching life in the wild. On the other hand . . . I not only grew up with lots of kids in my family (I come from a family of ten children), I grew up with lots of cows. Because of the cows, the coyote was our enemy. Coyotes were sneaky and costly. One calving season the coyotes were especially bad. Coyotes have neither ethics nor morals; they have only the will to survive. They would creep among the cows, find the newborn calves that had not yet gotten their legs under them, and begin chewing on the soft tissue of the calves—the nose, the rectum, or the umbilical area. The coyotes literally began to eat the calves alive and often left them to die half eaten. I detested them for their cruelty. I remember one situation clearly. It was cold and snowy and a cow had secluded herself from the herd to calve. She gave birth to twins, 30 yards apart. Then the coyote moved in. The mother cow would butt and charge as the coyote came close to one twin, then the coyote would quickly move to the other calf so the cow would run over to protect it. Back and forth she ran trying to protect her two newborn calves from the coyote. In her weakened condition, she was near collapse from the effort. The coyote would soon have three kills had my father not happened on the scene. Three weeks ago I walked out to our chicken coop to gather the eggs and saw a couple of dead chickens in the run. I hurried inside the coop and found only the old arthritic rooster. I hurried out behind the coop and looked in the pasture for the rest of the brood and found a few more dead hens. Not one live chicken was found. The coyotes had dug in under the pen and carried away, or killed for sport, every last hen. All 25 of them. I was mad. Deedle dardle doodle deedle dum. Those coyotes think the world owes them a living and it’s time for them to learn that they’ve got to work for all they earn. Girded with the optimism and self-reliance I’ve learned from the coyotes, I’m ready to teach them a lesson they obviously missed in the wild: Don’t mess with my birds! By Jane Payne, Lifestyle Blogger 25
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Chincoteague Ponies (Assateague Horses) The most famous herd is the Chincoteague ponies that populate the beaches and forests of Assateague Island. What are they? This article will use the term Chincoteague pony but the horses are actually broken into two herds and live on opposite sides of a fence on the Maryland/Virginia state line. The Maryland herd is officially classified as Assateague horses and the Virginia herd as Chincoteague ponies but they are descended from the same herd of horses. What do they look like? Chincoteague ponies are small, stocky, and hardy, with a straight profile, muscular build, round hindquarters and light feathering on their fetlocks. The most popular color on a Chincoteague is pinto because many owners look for horses that resemble the famous Misty, but the horses come in all solid colors as well. How did they get there? There are two theories on the Chincoteague origin story. The first is that the ponies are descended from horses that swam ashore after a Spanish ship wrecked on the coast of Assateague during a storm. The second theory is that the ponies’ ancestors were released on the islands so their owners could avoid livestock and fencing taxes. In the 1920s the breed was riddled with conformation faults due to inbreeding, so outside horses were added to the gene pool. Welsh ponies, Arabians, and mustangs
all played a part in creating the Chincoteague pony known to visitors today.
Corolla Wild Horses (Banker Horses)
How do they live? Chincoteague ponies survive on a diet of coastal roughage like saltmarsh cordgrass, greenbrier and sometimes even seaweed. Their high salt diet means the horses must drink lots of water and eat constantly to get the nutrients they need, which can give them a bloated appearance. The Maryland herd is managed by the National Parks Service. The horses are left alone on their territory except for emergency medical intervention and regular doses of contraceptive delivered by dart. The contraceptives help regulate the population and improve the quality of life for mares, who have better chances of surviving if they do not foal every year. The Virginia herd is owned by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department. The CVFD gives the ponies regular veterinary inspections and vaccinates them in preparation for a possible life among domestic horses. The Virginia herd participates in the annual pony penning, which was established in the 1920s to raise money for firefighting equipment. What’s Pony Penning? Pony Penning is held on the last Thursday and Friday of July as part of the Firemen’s Carnival. The ponies are herded up and swim across the Assateague channel to Chincoteague Island, where they’re sold to the highest bidder. Select foals are designated as ‘buybacks’ which means they are purchased but returned to the island to further their bloodline in the wild herd. 27
A lesser known, but equally loved breed of horse calls North Carolina’s Outer Banks home. These horses have had to constantly adapt to changes in their environment as humans and commercial development threaten to push them out of their natural habitat. What are they? Colonial Spanish Mustang is a term used to describe Original Indian horses, Spanish barbs, and Spanish Mustangs. There are two groups of horses in North Carolina: the horses in Corolla and the horses living on the Shackleford banks. Both are descended from Spanish horses and have been recognized by the Horse of the Americas Registry as Colonial Spanish Mustangs. The Corolla horses are well built and hardy with easy gaits. They resemble Spanish horses in their conformation and they have five lumbar vertebrae, like Arabians,
which is one less than most breeds. They tend to be taller and more refined than the Chincoteague ponies and they do not usually come in pinto patterns. How did they get there? The Corolla Wild Horse Fund has accounts of horses being left in North Carolina after Spanish explorers fled the Native American tribes inhabiting the areas in the 1500s. From that point on these hardy horses adapted to life on the coast and their bloodlines are much the same today as they were five centuries ago. How do they live? Like other wild coastal horses, the Banker ponies survive on a diet of harsh grasses and brush they find in the dunes and forests along the Outer Banks. The Corolla horses are managed by the Corolla Wild Horse Fund, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting and promoting the breed, and the National Parks Service. The Corolla horses are monitored by volunteers
left by Spanish settlers, but it’s more likely they descended from horses that escaped from English colonists in the 1800s. In the late 1800s Thomas Carnegie introduced Arabian, Tennessee Walker, and Paso Fino horses into the herd in an attempt to improve the breed. Because of this large infusion of non-wild blood the Cumberland horses are closely related to several domestic horse breeds.
and evacuated from the beach in case of extreme injury. They are also provided annual contraceptive to help regulate the population.
Cumberland Feral Horses The southernmost wild horses on the East Coast are a herd of feral horses that live on Cumberland Island in Georgia. They are a favorite to anyone who steps foot on the beautiful, remote island accessible by ferry or boat. What are they? Cumberland’s feral horses are similar in looks to the Banker and Assateague ponies. They are small, stocky, and hardy. They come in most solid colors, including roan, and have more variation in their coloring due to a large amount of outside blood being introduced to the herd. How did they get there? Some believe that the Cumberland horses were originally
How do they live? Cumberland horses are regarded as feral, free-ranging and unmanaged. They live on the Cumberland Island National Seashore and are given no assistance by the National Parks service. Several studies have been done on the Cumberland herd. The findings revealed that the horses tend to live shorter lives than their counterparts in Assateague and Corolla due to disease and food shortages. Cumberland horses also have unusual social structures. Many groups on the island have mares that will stray from band to band without forming close bonds with other mares, and stallions have been known to co-manage a band to take turns breeding with the mares.
herds need to keep their numbers large enough to avoid risks of illness or deformities from inbreeding. Culling the herds too much could destroy the bloodlines, but allowing horses to overgraze will eventually make the beaches unlivable. The Assateague herd is protected because they live on the Assateague Island Wildlife Refuge and the NPS manages them as a “desirable feral species” due to their historical significance. The Chincoteague herd is privately owned and managed, and the presence of breed registries means the Chincoteague pony will live on even if they must forfeit their home on the island. The Corolla and Cumberland herds have different stories. The Corolla herd lives on land that is partially private and partially public. Their territory is at risk from commercial development. Although
Representatives twice, but not the Senate. H.R. 126 (The Corolla Wild Horse Protection Act) would allow the herd size to stay large enough that the horses won’t be at risk of inbreeding, but also allow management and contraceptive use to ensure the horses don’t cause undue harm to the environment. The Cumberland horses are protected because they live on the Cumberland Island National Seashore, however, since they are totally unmanaged the herd size is only regulated by naturally occurring deaths. Some studies suggest the horses are damaging the ecosystem at the current herd size but no management practices have been put in place to help control the population. Sadly, this may affect the horses’ quality of life. According to a study published in the The Journal of
the Corolla horses are confined to the northernmost part of the beach and kept from the urban areas by a large fence and cattle guard, this doesn’t keep them safe from humans. Federal law states it is illegal to get within 50 feet of the horses, but horses have been hit by cars on the beach and people often approach to pet or feed the horses. The Banker horses are used to humans but they are still wild animals and will bite or kick if threatened. Feeding wild horses can kill them, as their bodies are not adapted to foods like apples or carrots. Like our Lowcountry alligators or dolphins, it really is best for the horses to not feed them and leave them alone. Legislation to protect the Banker horses has passed the House of
Wildlife Management in 2000, the Cumberland foals only have about a 60% survival rate, compared to western mustangs’ 80%.
Conservation One thing the East Coast mustangs share with their cousins in the West is controversy over how to protect them without hurting the land they live on. Horses graze 16 to 17 hours a day and eat plants down to the soil, which makes regrowth difficult. The horses living in Assateague, Corolla, and Cumberland pose a risk of overgrazing native plants, which can lead to erosion and a decrease in biodiversity. The easiest thing to do to protect the environment is decrease the number of horses allowed to live on these spaces. However, all three
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Environmentalists and horse advocates ultimately want the same thing. They want the horses to remain free and healthy without causing undue damage to the land they and a wealth of other species (including humans) depend on. The keys to finding that balance are research, communication, and a willingness from all parties to work together. By Kieran Paulsen, Equestrian Studies Major Photos Credited to Kieran Paulson & Cam Davis
Books For People Who Love Animals
&BOOKS
Children’s Selection A Frog in the Bog Written by Karma Wilson Illustrated by Joan Rankin love to read stories to children that have a fun rhythm and rhyme, and A Frog in the Bog, written by Karma Wilson and illustrated by Joan Rankin, is one of those stories. As the story opens, a frog sits on a log, in the middle of a bog (what we would call in the Lowcountry a “marsh”) and apparently he’s hungry. Throughout the story, he starts projecting his sticky, froggy tongue and catches various bugs, including one tick, two fleas, three flies, four snails and five slugs -all of which hung around too close to his log. Now mind you, as he dines on each group of insects, he grows bigger and bigger. Soon enough, he is no skinny frog, and is stuffed with some very confused looking bugs inside his tummy. However, as he sits on his log, enjoying his full belly, the log starts to move. The frog quickly realizes he has not been sitting on a log, but actually a gator. Talk about Lowcountry! As the frog starts to let out a loud scream, his mouth opens wide, and the bugs escape back into the bog, slithering, sliding, crawling and flying. Whew! I guess you can say that gator saved those grateful bugs, and they learned their lesson not to hang around too close to a frog sitting on a log in the middle of a bog (See, I’m getting into the rhythm of the story just thinking about it.) This story has a fun cadence, lots of rhyming, and even some counting. Children will enjoy reading along, repeating the words, “and the frog grows a just a little bit bigger”. The beautiful watercolor illustrations make the reader feel they are sitting right on that log with that frog. So grab the book and find a log to sit and read. Just be careful your log isn’t a gator!
By Linda Burton, Beaufort County Educator
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LOGGERHEAD TURTLE “BIG DIPPER/Little Dipper” by Mira Scott his is the story of the female (mother) coming home to lay her eggs on the beach where she was born so many years before. This painting, Big Dipper, is the companion to its sister painting, Little Dipper. These paintings were named after the constellations you see in the night sky. The Big Dipper and Polaris played an important part in the Underground Railroad, which helped slaves escape from captivity in the southern states north to Canada pre Civil War. Urban legend says the folk song “Follow the Drinking Gourd” was a code song that gave directions of the escape route. They followed the star and constellation to freedom in the north. Big Dipper or Ursa Major, being circumpolar, never sets below the horizon if you are above Latitude 41 (NY). You can tell the time of the night sky by the position of the big dipper. If you can find the big dipper in the night sky, it is the sky mark to find other constellations. The 2 stars that are the pouring edge point to Polaris in the constellation Ursa Minor (little bear) better known as the Little Dipper. The blue green light seen on the waves in this painting is called bioluminescence. The ocean, teaming with billions of microorganisms causes the ocean to look like the Milky Way with a myriad of yellow sparks. Bioluminescence is living light, fireflies of the ocean, and one-celled organisms known as dinoflagellates. Their light lasts for 0.1 seconds and is visible to humans. Blue green light travels the farthest and many organisms are sensitive to only blue light. The loggerhead sea turtle (caretta caretta) is found in almost every temperate and tropical ocean of the world. They drink salt water and excrete salt through
glands locates near their eyes, which looks like they are crying for their young. Loggerheads are the largest hard-shelled sea turtles alive today, weighing between 170 and 1200 pounds. Living near the beach I sometimes forget that over the dunes is a whole other world. A few summers ago I saw my first loggerhead turtle come to shore and lay her eggs. Well, that only took some 30 odd years! This gives me an appreciation for the expression “everything in its own time”. Some interesting facts: • They can dive for up to 20 minutes. • Their lifespan in the wild is between 30 and 62 years. • The female will lay 110 to 130 eggs. • Females lay several clutches. • Incubation time of the eggs is from 45 to 80 days. • They always return to the beach where they were hatched. • They eat horseshoe crabs, jellyfish, crabs, shrimp, barnacles, whelks and conch. • Adult females only ever go to shore to lay their eggs. • Loggerheads are the official reptile of the state of South Carolina. If you enjoyed coloring this page and would like to see more, please visit the MiraMira line of products on the website. Add you colored page to my facebook page too! https://www.facebook.com/miramiraproducts/ By Artist, Mira Scott 843-842- 5299 miramirastudio@gmail.com www.miramirastudio.com
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When I was asked about the possibility of writing an article for Tails of the Lowcountry about my Nature inspired Art and the Art of other Savannah Artists, I immediately thought of my dear friend and fellow Artist, Bess Ramsey. Artist Mary Elizabeth Ramsey, known to her family, friends, and patrons as “Bess” truly captures the soulful Light of each divine animal she paints. Her repertoire of Art also includes magnificent watercolors
“We all just love our pets… and I love painting them.” of our beautiful Savannah’s historic architecture, romantic florals, as well as delightful portraits of children. Her commissioned pet portraiture exemplifies her keen sense of the soulfulness of God’s creatures. This gift, combined with her great technical skill, make her work authentic, inspiring and highly collectible. Bess is one of our featured Artists
of Savannah Art Walk, which is held the second Saturday of each month in Historic Savannah, September through June. You can tour her gallery, Studio One in City Market, and R.S.V.P. for the event at www.SavannahArtWalk.com. City Market is home to many diverse and thriving artists and her gallery has been a staple of the art scene since 2004 when she first opened with another fellow artist. Bess loves her space in City Market, describing it as her “happy place,” where she enjoys “spending time with fellow artists, friends, and meeting some of the most special people in the world.” Bess further explains: “I paint on a daily basis and explore the fun and challenge of watercolor.” As a fellow artist, I truly respect and recognize her mastery of the highly elusive medium.
On how she got started: Most of my work in done on a commission basis. I had no idea that I “ would be doing what I do, as most of my commissions started out as a portrait artist of dogs. I did a painting of my grandson's dog for his 16th birthday as a surprise gift to him. I liked that so much I did a painting of the English Bulldog that I grew up with and things just started moving forward in that direction from those two paintings. To date, I have painted over 200, dog portraits and other pets as well… cats, goats, rabbits, a cow…”
“As a child I always loved art and I believe that my mother realized this as she nourished this creative desire in me. This is one of the things I appreciate most about my mother. Because of her, I paint today. I always want to be able to share the love of what I do with other people who have the same desire and drive to motivate their creative energy in a positive way. It is a God given blessing. People who do this seem to see the world in a different way.”
You can view her work on her website with fellow studio artist Brad Hook at www.studioonecitymarket.com To commission a Pet Portrait, please call or email Bess: 912-655-3066 bessramsey@yahoo.com By Tiffani Taylor, owner/operator of Tiffani Taylor Gallery
SAVANNAH ART WALK RETURNS SEPTEMBER For Info Visit • SAVANNAHARTWALK.COM 32
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Proceeds Benefit Local Dog Rescue Groups
912.234.3336 or 912.508.3336
for more info 33
ere in the Lowcountry, we have diverse wildlife. Some of the native fauna is appreciated, some is feared, and some is loathed (read mosquitos & no-see-ums). One of the slick natives that call the Southeast home is the American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis). Locals, like golf aficionados and pedestrians, are familiar with the modernday dinosaurs that inhabit their golf courses, lagoons, and backyards. Just like the other native flora and fauna, gators are a part of local living. These sleepy reptiles are usually seen napping on the banks and lull passersby into nearly believing they are part of the landscape.
ANCIENT NATIVES Here in the South we’re lucky to have these giant reptiles. Gators are one of the first things that come to mind when people think of the Lowcountry. In a way they’re a mascot (for more than just football teams!). Alligators and other crocodilians are some of the closest living relatives to dinosaurs on the planet. Over the last 200 million years, alligators and their relatives haven’t changed much. The reason is they are such effective apex predators that the need for evolution has been, for the most part, unnecessary. A flexible diet with no true competition (aside from other gators) means niche domination. Even with little change over such a long period of time, alligators have incredible perception. Their eyesight is sharp along with their sense of smell. Most interesting of all is the small receptors gators have on their snout that let them sense the smallest disturbances in water. This ability helps them detect prey long before the prey detects them.
Even though gators have been around for so long they didn’t always look the way they do now. In fact their ancestors were much smaller and looked a bit funny. One branch of the family tree was a small dinosaur with a fin on it’s back that fed on small animals. Another branch was a beast that resembles modern day crocodiles but the head was way bigger than it’s body! Nature finally got it right around 150,000,000 B.C. with the gators we see today. 34
THE FACTS There are copious myths and misinformation about alligators. Often, they are stigmatized or sensationalized as “dangerous man-eaters.” Yet, records indicate there have only been 17 fatal attacks since 1948 and many more non-fatal bites. By the numbers there’s a much better chance of you winning the powerball than having a fatal encounter or even a serious injury from a gator! Alligators are misunderstood reptiles, apex predators and a crucial building block in the food chain and ecosystem. Alligators are the kings of their niche, wonderful mothers, and ancient beings.
“The best line of defense for humans and alligators is to just let the alligator have distance”
- BILL BURNS
The range of these prehistoric reptilia goes from coastal North Carolina down to the tip of Florida and as far west as East Texas. Gators prefer freshwater habitats like ponds, lakes, swamps, rivers and streams. Wise local residents say they consider any freshwater body in our area to potentially be an alligator habitat. Occasionally, gators swim in saltwater but lack the salt glands necessary to thrive in salient environments. Here on the coast we often see these reptiles on the banks of the ponds on the local golf courses soaking up the rays. The larger they get, the more
uncomfortable we seem to become. Newspapers carry pictures of huge gators tied up on the boom of bulldozers that show us monsters in our midst. Unfortunately, a majority of these pictures use a technique called “forced perspective” where someone is standing a few feet behind the gator creating a false depth perception. Forced perspective photos make the gator look a lot bigger than it really is, a trick also used with snakes and sharks. Adult female gators average 8 to 9 feet and males 11 to 12. At 6 feet an alligator is considered an adult. Unusually large specimens are fairly uncommon. Gators generally grow about one foot per year for their first five years, growing faster until they reach maturity, at which point their growth rate dramatically decreases. Adults grow just an inch or two per year, meaning that goliath gator is likely a half century old. As apex predators, these crocodilians eat a variety of other animals. Alligators are opportunistic feeders preferring to ambush their prey which is just about anything they can overpower -- including other gators! Surprisingly, these giant reptiles don’t require a lot of food to thrive. Something as simple as a raccoon or smaller gator is more than enough for an adult to live off for a week.
OUR
NEIGHBORHOOD
GATORS
Gators are seen on golf courses and in the neighborhood ponds on a regular basis in the Lowcountry. You may be surprised to hear your neighborhood gator, “Old Greeny,” could be a completely different animal from day to day. Seasonal cues, changes in diet as they grow, and good nesting sites for females are just a few of the factors for gator movement. Plus, alligators in the wild tend to self segregate by size. Research has found alligators can travel up to 55 miles between water systems (even back to their original habitat after relocation). So while your green buddy basking every day on the banks of the pond
notify local authorities. Remember, alligators may be misunderstood, but they are still dangerous predators and feeding them makes them more, not less, dangerous.
A FEW PRECAUTIONS
all documented cases involve some sort of human error. Unsurprisingly, Florida is home to the largest gator populations and attack rates.
could be the same alligator, it’s entirely possible “Old Greeny” is a different gator! Now and again we hear news stories of alligator attacks where a person or pet gets too close and ambushed. The numbers tell us attacks are incredibly rare, despite the impact they can have on our public conscious. Sadly, almost
Have you heard the term “nuisance alligator”? It’s used when an alligator associates people with food. When wild gators are fed by tourists or locals, they learn two-legged animals mean there’s a free meal! In most, if not all states, it is illegal to feed gators and can result in a hefty fine or even jail time. DNR says “a fed gator is a dead gator” because of the risk posed. This means nuisance gators are euthanized. If you come to find that “Old Greeny” is unusually curious when you are near the pond, the best thing to do is
Alligators are integral to our ecosystem and should be appreciated and enjoyed. At a distance. With a camera. There are a few things you can do to make sure your relationship with our green comrades remains friendly. From the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory website they list of the following: • Don’t feed them. • Stay a safe distance (60 feet or so). • If you find a gator crossing a road don’t move it. • Leave nests and baby gators alone. (Mom is very protective!) • Keep pets and children away from waterways that gators call home. • Avoid swimming in freshwater waterways in gator areas. • Don’t corner a gator if you happen to come across one.
Keep in mind, alligators are nocturnal by nature. Nighttime is their time. When the sun goes down is when this species starts hunting and are most active. Avoid putting yourself, or your beloved family pet, in the position to tempt this apex predator at night in areas where they may hunt. Remember, gators may appear as relaxed as grandma sitting on the porch sipping sweet tea, becoming one with the spanish moss and environment. While “Old Greeny” may be a grandmother, she is also an apex predator that is entitled to your respect. We needn’t fear our reptilian friends. Learning about alligators, their nature, and their habitat is the best way to remain safe in the South.
By Justin Smith, Gecko & Tarantula Wrangler Photos Credited to Jerry Griffin of Coastal Carolina Imagery
from the
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