We had a wonderful time on the Isle of Palms. The home we rented was a block from the beach and around the corner from the pool. It had great porches with a nice view of a lagoon area around which all of the homes were situated.
After unloading, we went on the back porch and immediately turtles swam up to the edge of the water right beneath the porch. By twos and threes they arrived and popped their tiny heads up. These were no ordinary scummy pond turtles; these were domesticated begging turtles! Of course being the kind nature lovers we are, we ran inside and grabbed some bread to feed these poor starving creatures. Soon, there were over twenty little heads popping up and treading water right in front of us. In the midst of all of this charming nature, I glanced up and took a closer squint at the large log sitting under the tree on the other side of the lagoon. Surely that log didn't just move! Surely it is not sliding into the water and floating right over to our turtle feeding ground!
It seems that this lagoon is teeming with wildlife. The 6ft. alligator swam right up by the turtles. The turtles were not impressed and kept their begging routine going. We,however, were very impressed and felt a creepy thrill as he eyed us up on the deck. A lady came out onto the porch next door and told us there is a 500 dollar fine for feeding "Al" so the turtles left to go run their con at someone else's back porch. Eventually, "Al" got tired of watching us, especially after we made MC go inside. Later we saw an egret, who was hunting for some dinner,narrowly escape getting eaten by "Al". It was like "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom" out there! We even saw some carp or something making giant leaps and spins. We kept hearing wierd plops and we finally caught sight of the aquatic acrobats.
Interestingly, in all of the material the owner left for us, intructions on recycling, air-conditioner settings, restaurant suggestions etc... there was not one mention of the 6ft. alligator out back!
There were plenty of nature thrills and chills at the beach as well. We caught (and released) twenty something hermit crabs. This was very exciting to the boys who read a wonderful book about hermit crabs this year. We were very tempted to keep some of the beautiful shell hermit crab homes, but came to a group decision to let them go, shells and all.
We also had several shark sightings. Past hurricanes have given this part of the beach an unusual sandbar formation and several of the days small sand sharks were sighted where they had been caught in low tide. I saw a pair of fins myself. Most thrilling was the hammerhead sighting. Thankfully, everyone was alerted quickly by others along the shoreline and no one was hurt. It swam up into very shallow water though and we got a close look at it. I'd guess it was about 4ft.
We were all quite pleased with the beach nature adventures on this trip. The encounters were unexpected, but we enjoyed the first hand thrill of observing new creatures in their natural habitats. We did leave a message for the owner, suggesting that she add something about "Al" in her communications with future renters.
2 comments:
Just checking in T! Sounds like a great vacation! All except the alligator...Im all for wildlife, but YIKES!
I've had some Mutual of Omaha moments myself, but nothing like "Al". I do think they might like to mention that in the rental brochure! Sounds like a fun trip.
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