Kiawah Island is a gated community and as such requires a guest access pass if you are not a property owner or reserved guest of the island. If you are not a property owner or reserved guest and would like to visit one of our preserved areas, please contact Collie Farah (Conservancy of the Sea Islands Land Preservation Specialist) at collie@conservancyoftheseaislands.org or 843-768-2029 to schedule a visit and obtain a gate pass for the island.
Little Rabbit North
Owned Property
Preserved: March 6, 2018
Preserved: 1 acre
Preserved: Between Mingo South and “Mainland” Kiawah Island
Habitat Type: Hummock Island, Maritime Forest
Conservation Value: This 5-acre upland “finger,” that extends out into the marsh, is situated between Mingo South and “mainland” Kiawah Island. Rabbit North, a piece of a hummock island bisected by the Kiawah Island Parkway, provides key habitat for several unique and at risk species. Data collected via GPS collars since 2007 indicates that bobcats regularly utilize the property. The Town of Kiawah Island’s “Bobcat Management Guidelines” (2014) delineates two nearby “Important Bobcat Areas,” used primarily for daytime resting cover. The salt shrub thicket habitat that forms the perimeter of Rabbit North provides key resting and movement habitat for bobcats. The property also likely provides habitat for additional mammals, including white-tailed deer, raccoons, opossums and rodents. Besides bobcats, Rabbit North is used by a variety of birds, including painted buntings, cedar waxwings, Carolina chickadees, and red-bellied woodpeckers. The federally listed “at risk” monarch butterfly finds a robust foraging area here, as the numerous groundsel trees provide a vital fall food source for migrating and overwintering butterflies. In addition to the typical marsh edge and hummock island plants, such as black needlerush, sea ox-eye daisy, southern red cedar, and live oak, Rabbit North contains southern magnolia, laurel oak, loblolly pine, slash pine, and pignut hickory in its upland areas. Unique understory plants found on Rabbit North include Hercules club, coral bean (in abundance), and partridgeberry. These plants are more typically encountered in Kiawah’s maritime forests.