A seine haul through Sparrow Pond in 1974 captured the
largest slider turtle ever documented from the United States.
grow up to 10 inches long and are larger than males. On the
mainland, we had conducted studies involving hundreds
of slider turtles, but this one was dramatically bigger than
average, even for a female. It turned out to be larger than the
largest slider turtle ever reported in North America. In the
next edition of the Peterson Field Guide series on reptiles
and amphibians, the record for the largest individual of the
species ever found in the United States was a slider turtle
from Sparrow Pond. The record still stands today.
By the time we left in the late afternoon, we had seen
alligators in every body of water we had visited, found two
cottonmouths, and heard green treefrogs calling during the
day. All these species are still present on Kiawah. They join
the inventory of reptiles and amphibians that inhabit the
Island and contribute to its high biodiversity.
On June 29, 1974, I arranged a field trip for college
students from SREL to visit Kiawah. According to my field
notes for the day, “Around 1:00 p.m. Tom Murphy and I
made two sweeps with a 30-foot seine but only came up with
small fishes and no turtles. [Tom later worked for the S.C.
Department of Natural Resources as the expert on bald eagles
and alligators, assisted by Johnny Coker, mentioned earlier.]
I was beginning to get worried because we had seen only a
couple of turtles and had caught none.” I had hoped to find
enough to do a population ecology study on Kiawah Island
turtles to compare with those from mainland habitats. Also,
I was a bit embarrassed. A dozen college students majoring
in ecology stood in the tall vegetation expecting to see more
than a few mosquitofish.
“And then we found the six-foot deep gator hole at the
south end of Sparrow Pond! The seine haul brought in nine
enormous slider turtles, all larger than any we have ever
captured at SREL or anywhere else on the mainland. The next
seine haul caught a turtle and two adult alligators.” As we
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pulled in the seine, the larger of the alligators began rolling in
the net, causing a major commotion. It finally broke through
and escaped. We landed the remaining one, which was 7' 10"
tail to snout. Everyone got to help subdue it. No one minded
getting wet and muddy. We took the standard measurements,
marked it for later identification, and released it back into the
pond. Over the next two years, we marked many alligators to
determine population sizes and movement patterns. Kiawah
alligator studies continue through the efforts of Jim Jordan
and the Town of Kiawah environmental studies program.
Over the next year, we spent many days and nights
exploring the wild habitats of Kiawah and enjoying the
tremendous biodiversity of plants and animals. One morning
I stood by Bass Pond at sunrise, heard the neighing of a
stallion, and looked across to the far side. That was the only
time I saw the wild horses that roamed the Island. I later
found them on aerial color photographs taken of Kiawah in
1974. On a trip to Cougar Island, we found two enormous
live oak trees, each emerging at a 45-degree angle from one of
the ancient dunes that were now inland. We surmised that the
two trees were actually the forked branches of an even larger
trunk buried in the sand, like the arms of a slingshot with its
handle several feet below the surface. I have long wondered if
the base of the main tree might rival the Angel Oak of nearby
Johns Island in size.
On the night of May 23, 1975, I encountered a group of
Kiawah’s most intriguing animals. Nine of us, five adults and
four children, squeezed into an open-top Bronco and drove
along dirt roads in the undeveloped sections near Cougar
Island. The night was hot and muggy. Large mud puddles
punctuated the roads, but the SUV kept us moving. I stopped
before entering an unusually large area of water so someone
could check the water depth.
The first clue that we were not alone was a pungent smell.
Naturally Kiawah