A Passion for Wildlife

There is always a back story… How do you capture one’s passion? And on paper, no less.

Here’s the full article. We think Rose Jenkins at Conserving Carolina captured us beautifully. Now for the back story.

Bogging with Conserving Carolina

You never know who you will meet while bogging! First, what is bogging? Well, it is slogging thru knee-high muck and dense shrubs to find a very rare bog plant. In this case, an endangered sweet mountain pitcher plant.

Feeding our Passion: A Rare Flower

Next, what is so special about this plant? Well, less than 10 populations in the world are left and all are in North Carolina & South Carolina. And it is beautiful!

We were guests of Conserving Carolina who bought the land/bog where these stunning flowers live. We have worked with Conserving Carolina on several land purchases to protect the properties from being destroyed by development. One of our core philosophies feeding our passion: you have to save habitat to save wildlife and Conserving Carolina is a leader in this area.

Our Fearless Leader, David Lee!

So off we go with David Lee & Rose Jenkins, both of Conserving Carolina, to see the bog and the elusive pitcher plant. We first met David when we joined him to install hellbender nest boxes in a local river.

After about an hour, David stops to consult the GPS on his phone and actually get out a map to determine our exact location. Are we lost? In the wilderness surrounded by leucothoe, mud and buzzing insects?

Of course not, our fearless leader knows exactly where we are. I think. But mucking thru a bog is not for the faint of heart. I fell twice, luckily on drier land, and boots were caught frequently in the muck which required a very interesting maneuver to free yourself and your boot without falling in the mud.

Slogging Thru A Bog

But once thru all the brush and mud, a huge reward awaits. A whole colony of sweet mountain pitcher plants. Being careful not to disturb the plants, we stood in awe of their beauty. This once in a lifetime experience is exactly what continues to fuel our passion for all things in nature.

We had a chance to talk to Rose while slogging thru the bog and learned she is the Communications & Marketing Director for Conserving Carolina. To make a long story short, she came down to Tryon to interview us for this article. While here, she got to see Dale’s studio, his wildlife sculptures, our native gardens and bogettes and talk about wildlife conservation.

We had so much fun learning about each other. We hope you enjoyed the article as much as we loved being interviewed for it. Thank you, Rose and Conserving Carolina, for all you do to help protect the land around our home.