natural resources

A buck's antlers may look permanent, but they are part of a yearly cycle of growth, hardening, and release. After old antlers are shed in winter, new growth begins again.

Near sunset in late summer, look above an old school, church, or downtown building. You may see dozens or even hundreds of small birds circling a chimney in a tightening spiral.

A diamondback terrapin lives where fresh water and salt water meet. It is North America's only turtle found exclusively in estuaries, moving through tidal creeks, marsh edges, and muddy banks.

Each spring, striped bass begin moving upstream as water temperatures rise. Their spawning run depends on something easy to take for granted: enough flowing river.

In an open pine forest, a red-cockaded woodpecker may spend years working on a single cavity. Unlike other woodpeckers, it excavates its home in a living pine tree.

One of the biggest wildlife movements of the year can happen on a cold, wet night when most of us would rather stay indoors. Spotted salamanders spend much of their lives underground, hidden beneath forest soil and leaf litter.

Drive through the center of South Carolina and the soil can change almost without warning. Red clay gives way to pale, loose sand, and the landscape begins to feel more like the coast even though the ocean is far away.

A blackened forest floor can look damaged at first glance. But when the fire was carefully planned and controlled, that dark ground may be the beginning of renewal.

On a cloudy day in the South Carolina mountains, you can sometimes watch fog gather along the ridges and disappear into the trees. That moisture is part of what makes the northwestern corner of our state so different.

Paddling a Coastal Plain river, you may look over the side and see water the color of dark tea. It can appear mysterious, but that color does not necessarily mean the river is dirty.