TOP: The park's brackish marsh overlooks the Pamlico River. 

 BOTTOM: A turtle suns on a log. 



PEOPLE & 



PLACES 



Goose 

 Creek 

 State 

 Fark: 



Home to 

 Diverse 



By Ann Green 



Photographs by Scott D. Taylor 



A 



J. X. s the drumming of the pileated 

 woodpecker echoes through a tea-colored 

 swamp, Goose Creek State Park ranger Phoebe 

 Wahab surveys the water for signs of wildlife. 



Bending down on a wooden boardwalk 

 overlooking a hardwood swamp, she spots a 

 copperhead curled around a red maple. 



"The snake is usually in this spot when the 

 sun comes out," says Wahab. "Most of the time 

 snakes also sun on logs over there. Sometimes 

 there are so many snakes on the log that school 

 kids think we put out props." 



Wahab, who seems to know every hiding 

 place for snakes, walks a few feet on the other 

 side of the boardwalk. Then she eyes another 

 reptile — a redbelly water snake coiled in front 

 of a thin tree. 



Continued 



COASTWATCH 27 



