This week for Flora and Fauna Friday we have an elusive feline that’s long on legs and short on tails, the Bobcat (Lynx rufus).
The Bobcat is a small feline native to practically all of the lower 48 states and found throughout South Carolina. They are adapted to a wide-range of habitats and can be spotted skulking almost anywhere, but are most prolific here in the coastal plain. They look a fair bit like a domestic cat at a glance but with some key physical differences. Bobcats are tall and lanky with long legs and a long body. They stand about a foot-and-a-half at the shoulder and are roughly two-foot long. They have big feet, jowls with long fur, black tufts of hair at the tips of their ears, and of course, their namesake bobbed tail. Their fur is often grayish and reddish browns with thin black stripes on the face, small black dots along the legs and body, black bars on the tail, and a white belly. They also have white spots on the backs of their ears, white beneath their eyes, and a white underside to their tail.
As common as Bobcats are, they are a hard critter to lay eyes on, owing to their primarily nocturnal nature, preference for densely vegetated hunting grounds, and acute senses. Bobcats, like all cats, are predators through and through. They are stalkers, tracking prey with their sharp eyesight and keen hearing before pouncing on them at close range. Bobcats primarily feed themselves on a diet of rodents and rabbits but are surprisingly capable hunters who, when afforded the opportunity, can easily take down wading birds, raccoons, large fish, opossums, wild turkeys, and even deer fawns. Bobcats have been very numerous across the state in recent decades as they’ve benefited greatly from historic agricultural practices and the rapidly recovering White-tailed Deer and Wild Turkey populations. Yet now, they are starting to face competition in many locales from the semi-recent range expansion of Coyotes into the Palmetto State. However, Bobcats historically shared the Southeast with the native Red Wolf, which is now nearly extinct. So, I reckon they shouldn’t have too difficult a time adjusting to the Red Wolf niche now being filled by wily Coyotes.
This week for Flora and Fauna Friday it’s a ubiquitous upland fern found from the foothills to our forested floodplains, Ebony Spleenwort (Asplenium platyneuron).
Ebony Spleenwort is a small, perennial fern common throughout all of South Carolina and the whole of the Eastern United States. It has narrow fronds about an inch wide and a foot long with a rather simple feather-like shape. The fronds have only one level of division, with many short and rounded leaflets, or pinnae to be precise, arranged alternately along the central rachis. That rachis is a deep ebony-black in color and gives this fern the first part of its common name. The “spleen” part of their common name is a reference to the shape of their sori, or the spore producing structures on their reproductive leaves. The sori of spleenworts are, well, spleen-shaped. Does a spleen really have a specific shape? No, not really. They’re kind of just a lumpy semi-circle. Also “wort” just means plant. Regardless of any namesake spleen-shaped features, the black rachis and thin, simply shaped fronds make Ebony Spleenwort one of our easiest ferns to identify. Which is a good thing because it’s everywhere!
Ebony Spleenwort can be found growing out of cracks in rocks in the Appalachian Mountains, peppering the forest floor in the piedmont uplands, cresting sedimentary ridges in our coastal floodplains, growing beneath our Oaks here on the Sea Islands of the Lowcountry, and even out the mortar of old chimneys and brickwork. It’s hard to find a corner of the Carolinas where it isn’t. Like all ferns, Ebony Spleenwort reproduces via spores, which float listless on the wind to far off lands. However, unlike some of our other prolific ferns, Ebony Spleenwort doesn’t form colonies through root propagation. Yet, it does have a unique adaptation to life in the forest. Ebony Spleenwort can produce “proliferous buds” near the base of its fronds. These don’t let the plant spread laterally but they do help it move vertically. If the plant becomes buried in leaf litter or sediment, rather than be smothered, it can shift its growth upward an inch or so to keep on growing in the same spot.
This week for Flora and Fauna Friday we have our smallest raptor, the American Kestrel (Falco sparverius).
The American Kestrel is the most petite of all our raptorial birds and a member of the Falcons. They only weigh a few ounces, are usually less than a foot in length, and are quite similar in size to a Mourning Dove or Blue Jay. Kestrels can be found year-round all across South Carolina. However, they are most common on Edisto Island in winter and most easily found in fields, pastures, and clear-cuts. American Kestrels are an easy bird to recognize. A pewter-gray cap, a short hooked bill, a wash of black running down from a large dark eyes around white cheeks, a rust-red mantle, a rust stained breast, golden-yellow legs, and a tail with a black and white fringe. Males and females have distinct patterns. Males have gray wings, an un-barred red tail, and black spots along their flanks. Females have wings checker-boarded in rusty reds and browns, thin bars across the tail, and vertical streaks down the breast.
Like all our Falcons, Kestrels are built for speed. They have relatively long, pointed wings, which allow them to fly and maneuver at very high speeds. They use this high-speed maneuvering to great effect while hunting. Kestrels subsist on a diet of large insects, small mammals, and songbirds. Their other common name, Sparrow-Hawks, was born from their skill at hunting sparrows. Kestrels hunt by perching atop a shrub, sapling, corn stalk, fencepost, power line, et cetera in a clearing and scanning their surroundings for movement. When prey is located, they swoop in to grab it off the ground, or out of mid-air if it tries to bolt. Although Kestrels rely on open habitats to hunt, they also depend on woodlands. Kestrels are cavity nesters and utilize old woodpecker holes in dead trees to build their nests. Kestrels will also use artificial nest boxes. In fact a Wood Duck Box, if mounted high enough, can serve as a suitable nest box for both Screech Owls and Kestrels. However, a slightly shorter box is usually preferred if your goal is to attract either of these two wee raptors.
This week for Flora and Fauna Friday, we have a vigorous sub-tropical wildflower with late season staying power, White Beggarticks (Bidens alba).
White Beggarticks is native throughout Florida, the Gulf Coast, and the Sea Islands of Georgia and South Carolina, to include Edisto Island. It is an annual wildflower which typically grows knee to waist high. White Beggarticks is most abundant in damp, sunny, disturbed sites but can tolerate an extensive range of soil types and moisture levels as long as it gets enough sun. It is especially common on roadsides, power line right-of-ways, and the fringes of parking lots. It can easily be picked out from a crowd due to its inch wide daisy-like flowers with a golden center ringed in a half-dozen or so brilliant white, rectangular petals. As a sub-tropical wildflower, White Beggarticks doesn’t always follow the normal seasonal flowering convention most of our native plants do. Instead, it can bloom practically year-round if conditions are right but usually flower density peaks in mid-spring and mid-fall. Their flowers are a magnet for pollinators, especially our tropical migrant butterflies. As it has a tropical nature, this wildflower will just keep blooming, even well into winter, until a hard freeze kills it back. The seeds of White Beggarticks are shaped, and function, like a harpoon. Each of the long, thin seeds is tipped with two or three barbed prongs, which readily cling to fur and clothing. This is where the common name “beggar-ticks” comes from and this hitchhiking nature is how the seeds disperse themselves. As mammals wander past the plant, these seeds cling to their body only to be later brushed off many yards, or sometimes miles, away. There are even backwards facing barbs along the seed body itself, to aid in it later dislodging. White Beggarticks are very easy to grow and do well in cultivation. However, they are an extremely prolific seed producer and a rabid volunteer. Their clingy seeds can also be especially annoying to pick out of your jean legs and often result in the plants suddenly hopping to unexpected locales around the neighborhood. So think wisely before plugging one into your pollinator garden, as you may get a lot more of them than you bargained for!
Howdy everyone! This is Tom Austin, your quasi-resident Island ecologist and the Land Protection Specialist for the Edisto Island Open Land Trust. As some of y’all know, I’m the ghost writer and photographer behind the Flora and Fauna Friday social media series. We’ve been posting that series weekly since July of 2017. I’ve personally written every article and taken every photo for it. Today I’m excited to announce that, henceforth, we are going to house the series on this here EIOLT website, and post it here simultaneously with the regular posts on Facebook and Instagram.
I’m doing this in order to create an evergreen catalogue and searchable archive of all the posts I’ve made thus far. This means that these posts will now begin appearing in search engines and will be available for everyone to view, not just the folks who follow us on social media. This will be great for anyone who wants to find an old post and will allow EIOLT to passively reach a wider audience.
I’ve just finished posting the entire backlog of >300 Flora and Fauna Friday articles here in chronological order, back-dated to their original post date. From now on, I’ll drop new articles here on the website simultaneous to their respective social media posting.
Lastly, I’ve got a special Flora and Fauna project that’s been in the works for over 3 years now. More to come on that by the end of 2024. I’ll holler at you then!
This week for Flora and Fauna Friday we have an orange tropical tourist, the Gulf Fritillary (Dione vanillae).
A cinnamon-orange sheet glides upon a flower top, soon to fold and hold aloft a stained glass pane of silvered whites soldered into bronze. The Gulf Fritillary is one of our most prolific and photogenic summer butterflies. It’s a large butterfly, usually three-inches wide. Its upper surface is a uniform palette of warm cinnamon-orange fringed and framed with graphite-black spots and veins and accented by three white spots, ringed in black, on the leading edge of the forewing. Beneath the wings it’s far more dynamic. That cinnamon-orange burns through in the center of the forewing but is elsewhere replaced with warm-bronze. Within the bronze are set great globs of pure-white, which have been likened to the patterning of stained glass. From beneath, thick white stripes can also be seen across the length of this butterfly’s body. The caterpillar of the Gulf Fritillary is also quite striking. It is a rich, glossy orange and staked across its entire length with black, thorned spines. This bright orange aposematic coloration on both larvae and adults hints that this species has a toxic defense. Gulf Fritillary caterpillars feed on Passionflowers (Passiflora spp.) and these vines contain toxic compounds to ward off insects and other herbivores. However, Fritillaries are able to tolerate these toxins, sequester them in their own bodies, and themselves become toxic.
Gulf Fritillaries are common on Edisto Island in the summer and are especially numerous in fall. They are regular visitors to flower gardens and will land on almost all large flowered plants. They are also quite prolific along roadsides, fence rows, farm fields, and pastures where they prowl for Passionflowers to besiege. Our Gulf Fritillary population balloons in fall because this species is one of our tropical migrant butterflies. Although we have many pockets of resident populations, most of our Gulf Fritillaries are coming up from Florida for the summer. As the butterflies multiply in the spring in sub-tropical Florida, they eventually start flying north. By mid-summer they begin to arrive on Edisto Island and by October they’re arriving here in droves! The butterflies that migrate don’t return south. Instead they lay eggs in hopes that their children can find a foothold the following spring.
This week for Flora and Fauna Friday we have a wildflower with a mild identity crisis, Climbing Aster (Ampelaster carolinianus).
Climbing Aster is an aster through and through, with its simple, ovate leaves, stiff but narrow stems, and its golden composite flowers ringed in innumerable, pink-blushed-white petals that settle to pastel-magenta in the waning days of fall. Yet, its behavior au contraire to its nature. Climbing Aster creeps along and climbs upon its surroundings before, foothold assured, it heaps itself atop some pillar of its local botanical community. It lives its life not as a self-supporting shrub but as an unkempt, intruding vine. Climbing aster is partial to wetland margins, particularly pond sides, freshwater marshes, and seas island swamp shores. It is most abundantly in these locales when on the immediate coast of the South Carolina Lowcountry. When establishing, it often digs its heels in on the water’s edge before stretching itself out on top of the nearby greenery and grasses to soak up the unobstructed sun, as it dangles safely above the subverted quagmire below. Despite its mooching motivations, Climbing Aster is among the showiest of our asters. Its flowers are large for an aster, at up to an inch-and-a-half and numerous across the entire plant. It’s also one of our latest flowering native wildflowers, blooming well into November and providing a final feast for any straggling pollinators.
This week for Flora and Fauna Friday is everyone’s favorite group of scaly, maraca-wielding sausages: the Rattlesnakes of genera Crotalus and Sistrurus.
Here in the Lowcountry we have three species of Rattlesnake belonging to two genera: Canebrake Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus), Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake (C. adamanteus), and Pygmy Rattlesnake (Sistrurus miliarius). All are venomous, stout, mainly nocturnal, and can see body heat. Their toxic teeth lend well to similar lifestyles of ambush hunting but all have carved out a special niche.
The Canebrake Rattlesnake, AKA Timber Rattlesnake, is our most common Rattlesnake and can reach five feet long. Their scales are a brassy-gray across leading to a black tail tip with dark jagged rings around their belly and a rusty stripe down their spine. Canebrakes are widespread throughout our woodlands, thickets, and fields. Their diet is primarily mice, rats, squirrels, and rabbits but they will eat what they can catch, even other snakes. Timber Rattlesnakes usually smell out a mammal’s favorite footpath and then set up shop on the shoulder. When the critter finally passes by, hours, days, or weeks later, their infrared sensing pits let them seize it in a heartbeat, even in pitch darkness. The Canebrake’s venom is deadly. So you should try and avoid getting bit when out in the bush! Luckily, Canebrakes have a fairly laid back demeanor and hardly react to the presence of humans, except to rattle their tail when they’re cruising by, just to let you know they’re watching you. Rattlesnake rattles are made of hollow interlocking pieces of keratin. A rattle is added when the snake sheds its skin.
The Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake is our largest venomous snake at up to seven feet long and a contender for the world’s heaviest venomous snake. They’re a species of conservation concern in South Carolina due to habitat destruction and human persecution. Their scales are tan and brown leading to a black tail tip and studded down the top with black diamonds bordered by white. Diamondbacks are most common on barrier islands and in pine savannas. They are strong swimmers as well, allowing them to cross between islands. Fox and Gray Squirrels, among other furry critters, are their favorite foods. Their method of ambush is the same as that of the Canebrake but their attitude is more defensive. Some Diamondbacks are quick to rattle and will shortly coil up, head held high, to signal that they mean business. This is mostly for show as they will usually only feint biting when approached. However, they have the most potent bite of any snake in North America, so this display is no bluff. Don’t get near a Diamondback unless you’re a trained professional!
The Eastern Pygmy Rattlesnake is our smallest viper, at under two feet in length. They have pinkish-gray scales accented by small, dark, blocky-blotches and a rust-red stripe down the spine. Pygmies are most common in our pine forests, especially our flatwoods, and often hang out around freshwater wetlands. Like its two larger cousins, Pygmies are ambush hunters but mainly prey on small mammals, lizards, frogs, and insects. Unlike the larger rattlers, the Pygmy Rattlesnake doesn’t have much of a rattle and so it relies mainly on its camouflage to keep it out of harm’s way.
Rattlesnakes are a group of reptiles who want nothing more than to be left in peace. The number one cause of snake bites in the US is deliberately trying to handle or kill a snake. Although they can pose a hazard to energetic pets and carefree children, a Rattlesnake has no innate desire to bite people. They’re just a wild animal trying to get by without getting harassed. Venom is their last line of defense and they can’t guarantee it will save them. Think about it. A snake to a Bobcat or Coyote is just an angry kielbasa with scales. It looks like dinner. A snake without venom poses no threat. Even still venom takes minutes to take effect. Plenty of time to become something’s last meal. A Rattlesnake wants to make you aware that it is there so you will go elsewhere. It won’t touch you if you don’t touch it. So let the snakes be. Put the shovel down, holster the ratshot, drive around them, and for crying out loud don’t try and pick them up!
This week for Flora and Fauna Friday it’s the silvery seashore Gulf Croton (Croton punctatus).
Gulf Croton is a small, spreading, perennial shrub growing up to about knee high. It’s one of our beach specialist species, growing along the dunes right up to the front beach. Life on the beach is not a relaxing affair for plants, as it’s one of the harshest environments there is. Everything about a beach-bound plant must be precision tailored towards survival if they want to even stand a chance, and today’s plant is no exception!
Of course, any plant that lives on the beachfront has to be supremely adapted to extreme sunlight, droughty soils, constant wind stress, soil fertility extremes and deficits, saltwater inundation, and constant salt spray. Gulf Croton has all of those boxes checked. Its small size and supple branches help it resist the extreme winds of a beachfront and its spreading nature allows it to capitalize on good habitat once established. Gulf Croton’s leaves are thick and leathery, evergreen, and shaped like an inverted teardrop. This lets them reuse their leaves for multiple seasons and pump them full of water as storage for drier times. Gulf Croton is coated from ground to flower in a layer of fine silvery hairs and bronze resin dots. The silvery hairs act like insulation, protecting the plant from excess sunlight and buffering them against temperature swings. The resin dots are a chemical defense, pumped full of disagreeable substances to discourage insects and herbivores from chowing down. Gulf Croton blooms practically year-round and has male and female plants. The constant flowering allows Gulf Croton to take advantage of the stable coastal climate and, given their limited range, the unisexual flowers help them maintain genetic diversity by forcing cross-pollination. The flowers of Gulf Croton are small and innocuous, small silver orbs opening to a golden-green core with nary a petal in sight. Yet, they are still frequented by many pollinators, particularly native bees, as a reliable source of pollen and nectar.
