Coyotes a new threat to sea turtles on SC island

Just as wild hogs stopped eating sea turtle eggs on North Island, another top predator showed up and continued the gluttony, state wildlife officials say.

Last summer, coyotes ate more than half of the 90 sea turtle nests on the island, digging around barriers that volunteers had placed above the nests to try and keep eggs from being devoured, according to the S.C. Department of Natural Resources.

The emergence of coyotes is noteworthy because hogs aren’t known to have eaten any sea turtle nests last year at North Island, said DNR biologist Jamie Dozier, who manages the state nature preserve that includes the island off the coast of Georgetown.

“It’s so heartbreaking,” said Charlotte Hope, a DNR turtle biologist. “Jamie busted his buns to get rid of all these hogs, and now pops up a new problem.”

North Island marks at least the seventh barrier island in South Carolina where coyotes have been found feeding on sea turtle eggs since 2006, according to the DNR. As many as 20 coyotes are estimated to roam the island, apparently after swimming over from the mainland, DNR officials say.

Other islands where coyotes have gobbled turtle nests are Kiawah and Seabrook near Charleston, Hilton Head, Botany near Edisto Beach, and Sand and South near Georgetown, Hope said. Coyotes also have been found eating turtle eggs on the mainland just up from North Island in Georgetown County.

Coyotes have been documented on some other islands, such as Sullivan’s, but that community has relatively few turtle nests compared to other places.

“It’s a growing threat to the coast,” Georgetown County sea turtle volunteer Betsy Brabson said. “Our efforts to protect (loggerheads) are wasted if we don’t control them.”

Like hogs, coyotes are considered a problem statewide, but the threat of both hogs and coyotes is notable on barrier islands because of their impact on loggerhead sea turtles. The big reptiles are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act because of dwindling populations.

But unlike hogs, which are hunted and trapped on North Island, coyotes are crafty canines that can be more difficult to get rid of once they establish themselves.

A coyote is wary, for instance, of plunging into a cage filled with food, whereas a hog sees more with its stomach, DNR biologists say.

Smaller cousins of wolves, coyotes began moving into the Southeast from the west in the 1970s, DNR biologists say. In some cases, coyotes are believed to have been released by fox hunters, officials say. By the early 2000s, coyotes were in most South Carolina counties. The animals are blamed across South Carolina for killing young deer. They also are blamed for killing small domestic cats and dogs.

While coyotes are considered a new threat to North Island’s sea turtles, biologist Phil Wilkinson said he saw tracks on the island in the late 1990s as he worked on bird surveys for the natural resources department. He didn’t notice that they were eating sea turtle eggs, but Wilkinson said it’s possible that was occurring then, too.

These days, wildlife agencies are working on a plan to manage the North Island coyotes. DNR officials expect to hire a trapper to get the coyotes, as the agency has done in other parts of South Carolina, including nearby South and Cat islands. The agency’s trapping program on those islands killed up to 50 coyotes after 2006 as the animals began to become a problem, Dozier said.

The agency would not allow hunting, as it does to eliminate feral hogs on North Island. Hog hunters use knives and pistols to kill their prey, but that’s impractical with coyotes. The DNR doesn’t want people shooting rifles on the island of high dunes and dense forests.

Because of the impact coyotes can have on sea turtle nests, Dozier said it’s vital to make sure they’re caught and eliminated from North Island. North and South Islands, which both are part of the Tom Yawkey nature preserve, are among the state’s most prolific sea turtle nesting grounds.

This story was originally published February 22, 2015 at 9:11 AM with the headline "Coyotes a new threat to sea turtles on SC island."