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Well we finally got the big fire we needed by late June and into July. A lightning strike in a most inaccessible place started the fire a long way from any roads and trails on the north end of Cumberland. This was a welcome addition to the fire we experienced six weeks earlier farther south on the Island. The current fire however burned a major portion of the north end and when it was over had consumed over 2,500 acres. Most of this forest had not burned in years, so there was a huge fuel build up. Combined with low humidity and windy conditions the fire burned fast and extremely hot in many sections, even killing some of the pine trees that would have normally survived a less intense fire; a vivid reminder that frequent smaller fires are less destructive than infrequent larger ones. But the charred forest is already showing signs of recovery as new green plants are coming up through the ashes and have attracted deer and some smaller animals back into the area.
One of the hottest sections of this fire was in the scrub area that borders the North Cut road on both sides. This scrub type habitat is just that; an assortment of thick, low growing plants that actually need and thrive in burned over conditions. The last time North Cut burned through was in 1981 when a 1,700 acre lightning strike fire swept through the area, a similar situation to what has recently happened, but public reaction to that fire was much different. During the 1981 fire there was a lot of pressure on the National Park Service from the general public to put that fire out and “save the forest” even though the Park Service knew then it needed to burn in order to stay healthy. Another problem was the presence of houses in and near the burn area, however these buildings were ultimately protected from any damage. In our recent fire there were eight state and federal agencies involved in the protection of the houses on the north end of the Island (some of which are historical buildings) and as a result there was not any damage. On the other hand, outside of a few special interest groups, the outcry from the general public to put out the fire was not there as it was in 1981. This might be partly due to the lessons learned from the widely publicized Yellowstone National Park fire in 1988. At the time, people from all over the country were outraged that the park service let that fire burn as much as it did. So the agency was under a lot of pressure to put it out, which they eventually did. But soon after, the public could see for themselves the benefits of burning, as that area recovered with a lush new generation of plant and associated animal life. This is the phase we are entering into now on Cumberland with these fires, and the Island will be much better off as a result.
That sudden crashing sound through the palmetto undergrowth you hear when walking along the roads and trails of Cumberland Island is most likely from an armadillo. The nine-banded armadillo is an animal native to South and Central America that was introduced into Central Florida by man in the 1920’s. Since then, they have expanded their range north well into South Carolina and West to Mississippi, where they have now joined with a western population of the same species that entered south Texas from Mexico.
Somehow armadillos found their way to Cumberland by 1974; one explanation is they might have tried to cross tidal creeks on the mainland and the strong currents brought them to the Island. This has been documented with other animals so biologists believe it to be possible with armadillos, which in spite of their heavy looking shells, are good swimmers.
It’s the hard shell covering the back and sides of this animal that makes it so distinctive from other mammals we have on the Island and also very noisy when they run through the bushes. The armadillo is often referred to as a prehistoric looking animal and they do go back away in evolutionary time. One of the indications of this is that their body temperature can be altered by outside temperature from fifteen to twenty degrees; but not totally like that of a reptile. Armadillos are actually sensitive to weather extremes, so on very hot or cold days they can easily dig a deep burrow in the island’s sandy soil and stay under ground where temperatures remain fairly constant in a comfortable range.
More than anything else, armadillos are adapted for digging and rooting the ground where they find insects, their main food source. However, this member of the anteater family will eat other animals such as small snakes and moles, even some plant material. The armadillo’s mouth though, is equipped with only pre-molar teeth which limits their diets to mostly insects they can readily smell six inches under the ground with their sensitive noses. Over the course of a year one armadillo may consume up to two hundred pounds of insects; a lot of protein for an animal that only weighs about fifteen pounds. Except for the coat of armor an armadillo actually looks a lot like the native opossum, which unlike the armadillo, is a marsupial. But that doesn’t keep the local lore from comparing the two. As a result, on Cumberland, the armadillo is often referred to as “possum on the half shell”. The armadillo does not have a pouch for its young like the opossum does, but they do have a unique reproductive system that always produces four young; identical quadruplets; all the same sex. The advantage of this could be that it lessens the chance for inbreeding. Whatever the reason though, armadillos are truly unique animals and they certainly get your attention when they go crashing through the palmetto undergrowth.
The early morning birding tours we conduct from Greyfield Inn always include a drive and walk through the Dungeness area near the southern end of Cumberland Island. There is a large population of the native white-tailed deer at this location but what makes them unusual is that some of these animals are totally white all over. The first thing people ask is are they albinos? Well, not really, at least they do not have pink eyes like true albinos; instead their eyes are brown like their brown relatives.
Relatives are the key factor here because these white deer seem to appear in isolated herds where there is more of a chance for inbreeding. It is easy to see how this can happen since white-tailed deer naturally stay close to home. If not disturbed by some catastrophic event, these animals will range within a quarter of a mile of where they were born.
Over the last twenty-five years I have noticed an occasional white deer in the herd from time to time. Most of these animals were not all white either and some had other distinguishing features such as shorter legs and flatter noses also known as pie-bald deer. More recently though these totally white deer that have the same body shapes as the other deer are becoming more prevalent.
Right now in the Dungeness area there are five white deer. Last year a white doe had a pair of white twins that are both young bucks, now starting to grow antlers. This year the same doe had another pair of white twins. On the north end of the Island we recently encountered another white deer with mostly brown markings on its head and ears.
These white deer of course really stand out in the forested areas but blend well with the large sand dunes near Dungeness where we often see them. Where ever they are seen though, they are popular with Island visitors especially photographers and have become an added attraction to our early morning birding tours.
