Category Archives: Animals

Cashmere Goat

August 16, 2018 Ellen Jennings 2 Comments

Cashmere Goats are one of the heritage breeds that Middleton Place houses in its barnyard, devoted to animals that were known to be on the farm at some point during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Over numerous trips here this is the closest I’ve come to an “action” shot of one of the goats.

This is closer to what I usually see:

From the Middleton Place website:

In the 1850s, Williams Middleton imported and raised cashmere goats, sending their treasured hair to France where it was processed into cloth. The goats need minimal shelter due to their dual coats. Each year, starting in March, the goats’ hair can be harvested by combing out their winter coat.

https://www.middletonplace.org/

Animals

Wild Pig Destruction

August 15, 2018 Ellen Jennings 3 Comments

I have read about the damage wild pigs perform across South Carolina to crops, gardens, yards, anything they can root up, but this was the first time I had seen them in action.

This was a group of about a dozen, appearing to be a boar, two sows and two groups of youngsters, at slightly different sizes.

All of them except the boar were so busy feeding they didn’t even notice us when we stopped in the road.

We had driven by this small field a few days before and the grass the Wildlife Management Area staff had planted earlier in the summer was up about eight or ten inches (20 – 25 cm) and fully covered this plot.

The WMA maintains a number of areas along the roads through the property that attract and support different kinds of wildlife. I don’t think this was the outcome they wanted: complete destruction. I suppose the good news is a little fertilizer left behind and freshly turned earth to accept new seed if they decide to replant.

The boar had his eye on us and started encouraging his family to move along with some grunting and posturing. Off they went to destroy something else.

Animals

Dolphins Strand Feeding: Pelican Audience

August 11, 2018 Ellen Jennings 8 Comments

These Dolphins were strand feeding on the opposite side of the river, at least 300 feet (90 Meters) from where I was standing. The photos don’t have nearly the detail as my Dolphins Strand Feeding: Success post, but I thought it was quite interesting to see the process from a different angle.

Not to mention the Pelicans that were keen on seeing if they could nab a fish from all the action.

The Pelicans were following the Dolphins as they swam up and down the river. I didn’t see any fish this time but the Pelican on the left made a quick exit as if he had something he didn’t want to share.

Animals

Dolphin

August 10, 2018 Ellen Jennings 2 Comments

A Dolphin swimming

Casually down river

No rush, look around

Animals

Down on the Farm

August 9, 2018 Ellen Jennings 4 Comments

The draft horses had a short work day at Middleton Place today because of the heat, about 90 degrees F (30 degrees C) by noon.

Animals

Dolphins Strand Feeding: Success

August 7, 2018 Ellen Jennings 10 Comments

After the fishless stranding of my last post, I was fortunate to witness another strand feeding with the fish jumping wildly.

Three Dolphins had driven the fish to shore and the fish did their best not to become lunch.

The next photo is heavily cropped, but I wanted to show a closeup of the Dolphin – fish encounter. I’m not certain the Dolphin got this one, but it seems likely.

The frenzy only lasts a few seconds, then the Dolphins roll/flop back into the water, continuing to splash with their tails.

Animals

Dolphins Strand Feeding

August 6, 2018 Ellen Jennings 5 Comments

A number of Dolphin pods in South Carolina catch fish by a process known as strand feeding. Singly or in groups, they drive fish to the shore, aka strand, usually at a steep bank, then nab the fish.

To stay at a distance that is safe for the Dolphins doesn’t always result in the best images, but it sure is interesting to watch. I didn’t see any fish during this stranding.

Animals

Marsh Rabbit With Good Salad

July 6, 2018 Ellen Jennings 4 Comments

This Marsh Rabbit found a patch of grass that he didn’t want to give up. He saw me before I saw him when I first passed by and I jumped when he sprang into the water at the edge of the marsh with a big splash.

I didn’t expect to see him again, thinking he’d either moved further from the trail where humans pass regularly or had been lunch himself for a nearby alligator after creating all that commotion.

To my surprise when I returned he had come out into the open to have some more of that grass. It didn’t look like much to me but he was consuming his salad with gusto.

Animals

Deer Fawn

June 7, 2018 Ellen Jennings 8 Comments

Tucked into the roots of a Cypress Tree this new born fawn was hunkered down, surrounded by water.

I’m not sure how he got there; it would have been interesting to watch and know what was on the mother’s mind.

A few hundred feet away was a watchful pair of eyes and listening ears. This one seemed way to small to be the mother, perhaps it was an older cousin.

Animals

Rabbits

May 10, 2018 Ellen Jennings 5 Comments

I spotted these two rabbits about a half mile apart. The first one is a Swamp, or Marsh, Rabbit. I’m basing the identification on an educational sign posted near this location and that he is sitting in water / swamp vegetation.

I frequently spot one or more in the swamp edge or on one of the small islands just off the trail on the way to the heron rookery. They can move pretty fast even in the reeds and rarely do I see enough of one to get a photograph.

The second one was in a small grassy area behind one of the garden ponds. Until I compared the images I thought this was probably another Marsh Rabbit, but now see some differences. Leporidae is the family of rabbits and hares and with over 60 species I’m going to leave it at “Rabbit.”