Travelers

This time of year, our Lowcountry skies are graced with flashes of orange, black and yellow as butterflies take to the air on their seasonal migrations. Most well-known, of course, is the Monarch (Danaus plexippus), famous for the species' thousand-mile flight from the midwestern United States and Canada

A male Monarch butterfly

to overwinter in Florida or further south in Central Mexico. The annual southward and northward migrations are multi-generational; no individual butterfly makes the entire journey.The common name is thought to have been bestowed in honor of King George III of England, who also carried the title Prince of Orange, the color that most distinguishes the Monarch.

The Gulf Fritillary

But there's another butterfly also arriving in the southeast this time of year, and one easily mistaken for the Monarch. the Gulf Fritillary (Dione vanillae). Also brightly orange-colored, it's distinguished from its more famous cousin by its black wing spots and silver wingtip coloring. Its wings are longer and narrower than the Monarch's, too. Sometimes called the passion butterfly, the Gulf Fritillary overwinters here in the Lowcountry and further south, in Florida and Texas, before returning north, sometimes as far north as northern New York; and like the Monarch, these migrations spawn many generations from start to finish.

The Cloudless Sulphur

What about the small, flitting yellow butterflies that we're seeing frequently these late summer days? These have the delightful common name of Cloudless Sulphurs (Phoebis sennae), and while seen as far north as Canada, are most common to the southeast, Florida and Texas. The Latin nomenclature comes from the Latin for light, phoebe, and from the fact that adult females lay their eggs, and the larvae feed on, senna and pea plants.

Planting a butterfly garden is a great way to enjoy these colorful visitors. Learn more about what to plant, and where, here.

Everywhere Jenkins

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As you travel around Johns Island, you've no doubt noticed the prominence of the name Jenkins, one of the most common Lowcountry names. It appears all over Johns Island and, of course, here on Seabrook Island's Jenkins Point. This thumb-shaped peninsula jutting into the marshes on the northwest of the island, once home to herds of dairy cows, has been known by that name since before the Civil War, cited as such in an 1863 land sale in which descendants of William Seabrook sold most of Seabrook Island to the Gregg family but retained Jenkins Point for their herd's grazing. Cattle were still present as late as 1955 and had to be moved elsewhere as early development efforts got underway.

The progenitors of the far-flung Jenkins clan were three Jenkins brothers who emigrated to Beaufort County from Wales in the early 18th-century and promptly set about marrying into the handful of wealthy prominent landowners already present, from the Fripps of Beaufort County to the Legares and Seabrooks of Edisto and Johns islands. By the turn of the 19th-century, Johns Island's Walnut Hill and Hickory Hill plantations were owned by Jenkins descendants.

Johns Island's Esau Jenkins

The surname was given to the enslaved who worked the plantations, whose descendants settled onto their own farms with Emancipation. Closer to our own time, during the Civil Rights era, Esau Jenkins (1913 - 1972) became a driving force in the movement to register Black voters, provide educational equality for Black children (the original Haut Gap high school near Maybank Highway was built largely due to Esau's efforts) and create the Progressive Club, a cooperative market for Johns Island Blacks on River Road. Its cinderblock ruins still stand next to a commemorative plaque.

Esau's Volkswagen minibus, in which he ferried his neighbors and their children to polling places and schools, became so famous it's now on display in the Museum of African-American History in Washington, D.C. Esau's statement that "Love Is Progress. Hate Is Expensive" appeared on the rear of the bus, a sentiment carried on by his children who have all been active in voting rights campaigns and have served in county government positions. Esau is also remembered by the bridge over Church Creek that connects Johns and Wadmalaw Island bearing his name that's been a familiar Lowcountry one for centuries.

Deer Spirit

As our island's deer population increases its foraging ahead of leaner winter months, we're more likely to spot them in our backyards or along roads. If you're especially lucky, you may encounter a rare piebald deer, the result of a genetic mutation that affects the pigmentation of the coat. The mutation becomes more common the more isolated deer populations are, so our island-bound deers' interbreeding may make the mutation more common here than in areas with larger territories.

Seen at Lake House recently

The piebalds' unusual appearance has generated a considerable amount of myth and folklore. Native Americans consider the piebald as a spirit transitioning from this world to the spirit world, and that sighting one was an omen of impending change. In many Native American cultures, it's still strictly forbidden to kill a piebald deer, interrupting the soul's passage to the next world. Hunters have their own folk wisdom about taking a piebald, the more superstitious among them believing that killing a piebald puts a curse on future hunting success, or may even mean the hunter will die within a year.

Piebalds are not as rare as albino deer, which are typically pure white; and except for piebalds' mottled coats, they are often as healthy as their normally colored brethren. But piebalds are more susceptible to abnormalities at birth, particularly malformed internal organs and spinal deformities, which severely reduce chances of post-natal survival. Some piebald adults may also have shortened or crooked legs, making it difficult for them to avoid predators. Fortunately, these misfortunes are rare; although the presence of numerous piebalds in any one deer population can be an indicator of excessive interbreeding and can reduce the overall health of a herd.

courtesy The Island Connection

If you see a piebald, consider yourself fortunate to see an individual who's beaten the odds; and, who knows, letting you know that change may be in the air.