Kiawah Island Miracles

One of the many reasons we love Kiawah is the spectacular wildlife that makes the island home. Two videos created by KICA's Lakes Management department features the miracle of life - alligator style.

The video above of the alligator mother excavating the nest is from Pond 044 behind Berkshire Hall. The nest was approximately 40 feet from the rear of a residence. It is a site where KICA is in the process of setting up a webcam, but time did not work in our favor and the nest hatched before setup could be completed. The member at the residence had been attentively watching the nest and notified the Lakes department the morning of the hatching, August 24, that something was going on with the nest. The Lakes staff went to the site and found the mother alligator already in the process of moving babies to the water. They spent about 2 1/2 hours collecting the footage until rain ended their activities.

Jim Jordan, the Town wildlife biologist, also came to the site and got some footage that we are in the process of edting, so there is more to come!

This movie from a nest on Pond 077 (Bufflehead Pond) near Bufflehead Drive. The Lakes staff routinely monitors alligator nests around the island. This nest was in the process of hatching when Lakes staff members, Carrie Manson and Mike Parrish, checked on it. The mother alligator was not as interactive with this nest, allowing the "up close" footage. She showed up eventually, but that may be an indication of a younger and inexperienced mother.

As a note, we had 17 confirmed alligator nests this year. In 2005, there were 23. Female alligators usually nest two out of every three years.

The videos above were a team effort by the Lakes department, but Carrie deserves additional praise. She spent a lot of time and effort editing the 42 clips, adding the subtitles, and doing the voiceover. Many thanks also to Norm Shea, the director of Lakes Management, for providing the background information about the videos.