National Great Outdoors Month is celebrated in June and serves as a reminder to enjoy and appreciate our state parks and wildlife refuges. This observation, begun in 1998, encourages us to explore our parks and enjoy the beauty that awaits us in our natural world.
Video
Rudy and Jim visit Congaree Swamp National Monument, a fifteen thousand acre nature preserve. This naturally protected swamp features a variety of tall hardwood trees. Buffer Zone - We see that the...
Video
At the same stop, vines and flowering plants can also be seen growing in this area. We see Yellow Jessamine, and Toadflax.
Video
Sandy soils – At this stop, we see Southern Magnolia trees, which help keep the sandy ground stable. With this one magnolia tree, Rudy and Jim find holes left behind by beetles, and woodpeckers which...
Video
Bulls Island was one of the most heavily damaged areas in South Carolina by Hurricane Hugo. Rudy and Jim visit Bulls Island to observe how nature is healing itself after the deadly hurricane. Here at...
Video
“Ghost Beach” - Rudy and Jim further assess the damage to the island by Hurricane Hugo. The pines and live oaks at the shore line are gone, but the Palmetto trees survived. The water is slowly eroding...
Video
Rudy and Jim catch a full sized adult alligator sneaking around the area, and also find a Four-Lined Rat snake, also known as a Live-Oak snake.
Video
At the same stop, Rudy and Jim find more plants typical of barrier islands: Devil’s Walking Stick, Prickly Ash, and Buckthorn. In a shady area close by, Rudy and Jim find a resting Eastern Cottonmouth...
Video
On the other side of the impoundment we see the effects of Hurricane Hugo. The area once dominated by canopy trees like tall pines, are no longer there.
Video
At the same stop, Rudy and Jim come across a Northern Mockingbird, and a Red-Wing Blackbird perched in some nearby trees, making their distinctive bird-calls. Feeding on some nearby Dewberry flowers...
Video
Osprey birds and Bald Eagles can also be seen nesting in this wildlife refuge.
