What Reptiles and Amphibians
are Hiding in Kiawah Island’s
Maritime Forest?
I
Story by Whit Gibbons
52
Little Brown Skink: The small size, solid brown color, and tendency to stay on the
ground distinguish these little lizards from all others.
Right:
maritime forest in search of
herpetofauna, a.k.a. reptiles
and amphibians, in the 1970s.
Our earlier sampling efforts to identify
what species inhabited the Island
concentrated on the sand dunes, in and
around the small wetlands and larger
lakes, and in other natural habitats.
We left till last the dense maritime
forests with their pines and mostly
evergreen broadleaf trees that provide
a ground carpet of brown leaves from
live oaks, magnolias, and palmettos.
This classic wind-lashed, occasionally
salt-sprayed, habitat beyond the swales
margining the dunes sometime seemed
dark and foreboding because of the
dense vegetation canopy. But as we also
discovered, the maritime forest can
yield a diversity of wildlife, some of
which is unlikely to be found commonly
elsewhere on the Island.
Some of Kiawah Island’s reptiles
would not ordinarily enter the maritime
forest, especially reptiles that thrive best
in constant sunlight, a rare commodity
in the forest. Six-lined racerunner
lizards and glass lizards stick mostly to
open sandy areas, coachwhip snakes are
most common on the dunes, and slider
turtles and American alligators that
abound in the lakes rely on sunny sites
for basking.
Certain frogs of Kiawah are absent or
uncommon for another reason—they
require open freshwater habitats for egg
laying. Green and squirrel treefrogs, as
first entered Kiawah Island’s
Southeastern Crowned Snake: The black
head and neck with a white band make
crowned snakes easy to identify.
Southern Toad: The southern toad is the
most widespread amphibian on Kiawah
Island.
Naturally Kiawah