Don’t Be Spooked by the Creepy Crawlies that Call North Carolina Home

Durham, NC—27 October 2006—What creeps and crawls in North Carolina? Depending on where you live, it could be a plant that eats animals, a snake that swims or a spider that builds webs shaped like lampshades.

As Halloween rolls around, we’re surrounded by images of bats, spiders, snakes and an assortment of critters that make people squirm. But according to The Nature Conservancy, few of these creatures are actually dangerous to people and most of them benefit their ecosystem—and in fact are neighbors you should be proud to call your own!

The Nature Conservancy has protected more than 670,000 acres across North Carolina and the creatures that live there. Here are highlights of the scariest and the coolest critters found on Conservancy preserves across the state:

Nags Head Woods—This 1,100-acre preserve on the Outer Banks features pine and hardwood forests with 500-year old trees, freshwater ponds and marshes that provide a habitat for a host of creatures. Snakes abound, such as the redbelly water snake that eats toads, salamanders and tadpoles and emits a foul smelling musk if picked up. Cottonmouths, or water moccasins, are also common. These venomous snakes are not normally aggressive and try to scare off intruders by opening their mouth and showing their fangs. When they strike prey, the snakes immediately release it, waiting for the venom to take effect. If the prey runs away, cottonmouths track it by scent until it dies, and then swallow it head first.

A ghostly-looking plant found here is the Indian pipe or corpse plant, which lacks chlorophyll and is completely white. If picked, Indian pipe oozes a clear, gelatinous substance and quickly turns black and wilted. Indian pipe survives by borrowing nutrients from decaying plants. Despite its zombie-like appearance, Indian pipe is an important food source for bumblebees. Nags Head Woods is also home to five historic cemeteries, which provide a home for critters as well as a frightful footnote.

Green Swamp—Despite its 15,500-acre size, the Green Swamp Preserve is something of a hidden jewel near Wilmington. It features some of the country’s finest examples of longleaf pine savannahs and 26 rare plant species. But Green Swamp’s feature attraction may be the Venus flytrap, a carnivorous plant only found within 90 miles of this area. This spike-jawed predator uses its sweet smell and reddish color to lure insect prey into its tooth-lined trap. Trigger hairs activate the trap, which snaps shut in less than a second. Its teeth interlock, snaring the victim and forming a cage. Acids and enzymes pour from the digestive glands and the stricken prey is digested over a period of days. Fourteen species of carnivorous plants are found in the Green Swamp. It is also home to alligators, timber rattlesnakes and copperheads. As with many animals, all of these would much rather avoid you than confront you.

Hickory Nut Gorge—Not too far from Asheville, Hickory Nut Gorge drops 1,800 feet before ending at Lake Lure. The Conservancy has protected more than 3,000 acres here, which will become part of a new state park. The area is home to Bat Cave, the largest known granite fissure cave in North America and home to several bat species. The cave itself is always closed to the public and the preserve is only open in the summer months to allow the bats to hibernate undisturbed. Bats are one of the most misunderstood of all species. They are the only mammal that flies and their scientific name comes from the Greek for “hand wing.” There are over 900 kinds of bats in the world; the largest has a 6-foot wingspan. Among the smallest is the eastern pipistrelle, which is found in North Carolina and weighs a fifth of an ounce and has a 4- to 5-inch wingspan. North Carolina is home to 15 bat species, including two that are federally endangered. Bat Cave is also home to the lampshade spider, a species previously undescribed to science until it was found here. This spider, which weaves a lampshade-shaped web, is specially adapted to survive without light and with a limited food supply.

Hickory Nut Gorge is also home to many salamanders, which look slimy but are not. Salamanders can be found on water or on land, but they all depend on water for some part of their life cycle. North Carolina’s mountains are a center for salamander diversity and are home to more than 35 species. Because salamanders are quite sensitive to disturbances—both ecological and human—and because of their small territory size, they are good indicators of very local changes in their environments.

Despite, or perhaps because of, their scary reputations, these plants and animals represent the best of North Carolina. These and many other species can be found on Nature Conservancy Preserves across the state. For information and to discover the best places to find your own favorite things that creep or crawl, visit the “Places We Protect” section of nature.org/northcarolina.

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The North Carolina Chapter of The Nature Conservancy and its 25,000 members have protected more than 670,000 acres in the Tar Heel state. Its mission is to preserve plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. For more information, contact the NC Chapter office at 919.403.8558 or visit us on the web at www.nature.org/northcarolina.

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