Magnolia Plantation and Gardens Magnolia Plantation and Gardens Species List (4/2/23)

[biggest_dreamer]

I’ll preface this by saying that this is my first attempt at a species list, but this place has such a small roster consisting almost exclusively of domestics and native species, so it seemed like an easy enough endeavor. I didn’t realize this facility even had a zoo until I was already in the parking lot for a family visit, which was a nice surprise. It’s a very small zoo completely surrounded by a solid wooden fence (save for the horse yard) to prevent its free-roaming species from escaping into the rest of the gardens. To its credit, most of the enclosures seem to be at least on the lower end of adequate, which is unfortunately uncommon for lowcountry South Carolina. Only the single adult alligator felt truly questionable with its raised pool accessible only by a probably-too-steep and awkwardly placed ramp. Overall, though, it was a quaint area that is obviously meant to supplement the experience of the grounds as a whole. That said,

• Eastern box turtle
• Eastern screech owl
• Common snapping turtle (signed but unseen)
• American alligator
• American alligator (two juveniles)
• Red fox
• Black-tailed prairie dog
• Red-tailed hawk
• Turkey vulture, black vulture
• Spiny soft shell turtle (Apalone spinifera), common pond slider (Chrysemys scripta), mallard
• Muscovy duck
• Khaki campbell, Ancona, and Pekin ducks
• White-tailed deer (this may have been a free-roaming individual who just hopped the fence to hang out in an otherwise empty enclosure)
• Eastern gray squirrel (leucistic)
• Barred owl
• Great horned owl
• African spurred tortoise
• Bobcat
• Raccoon
• Kunekune pig
• Blue and gold macaw

Reptile House

• Canebrake rattlesnake
• Southern copperhead
• Pygmy rattlesnake
• Corn snake
• Eastern diamondback rattlesnake
• Eastern mud turtle
• Stink pot

Free-roaming

• Domestic chicken, peafowl, domestic goat, white-tailed deer

Horse Yard

• Shetland pony
• Donkey

The reptile house list was provided by my wife, so I can’t speak to its accuracy beyond what she provided - I have a terrible and very annoying phobia of snakes so I rely on her to feel out those types of places for me.

Overall, nothing special in this species list, and at a $30 admission it’s certainly nothing worth going out of your way for unless you plan to spend a good chunk of the day walking the greater gardens. The gardens truly are beautiful though, with several opportunities to spot wildlife (we saw a wild alligator and barred owl in addition to countless lizards and wading birds), so having the zoo on top of them is a nice little capstone.

 

[Smaggledagle]

Stinkpot is another name for common musk turtle by the way.

Good job on the species list.

 

[SusScrofa]

When I was in South Carolina I wanted to stop at this place and do the plantation tour and museum, but the weather unfortunately was very rainy and I couldn't stay another day.

 

[biggest_dreamer]

Visiting again today. Changes since last April are as follows:

• The deer, squirrel, and macaw are all gone. The deer were transferred to Charles Towne Landing and integrated into the herd there. The squirrel passed away due to natural causes (they had mentioned last time that she was an older individual). No idea on the macaw.
• The reptile shack has been demolished, and the inhabitants have been moved to an outdoor wall of terrariums where the macaw was. The list is a bit different than what was recorded last year: eastern copperhead, canebrake rattlesnake, eastern mud turtle, common musk turtle, corn snake, eastern king snake.
• A Virginia opossum now occupies a previously empty enclosure. A new, even younger alligator is now present and separate from the previous adult and pair of juveniles. A new exhibit for three-toed box turtle has popped up.
• Everything else from last year was still present, or at least signed. Signed but unseen: eastern box turtle, three-toed box turtle, common musk turtle, common snapping turtle, spiny soft-shelled turtle, common pond slider, bobcat. Not a good day for turtles, clearly.
• Note that I have a horrible phobia of snakes, so I did not actually attempt to observe any of them and in fact left the zoo area preemptively because a staff member was walking around carrying a “big snake”