Meet the Wild Neighbors
Step outside on Bald Head Island and you’re likely to encounter one of the island’s true residents — maybe a heron poised along a marsh creek, a turtle nest tucked into soft dunes, or an alligator gliding silently through freshwater ponds.
In Haven Magazine’s 2025 feature “Meet the Wild Neighbors,” the island’s natural world takes center stage, reminding us that Bald Head isn’t just a coastal retreat — it’s a sanctuary shared by thousands of wild inhabitants.
A Living Neighborhood
From the open beaches to the quiet maritime forest, Bald Head Island hums with life. The Haven story takes readers across these distinct environments — dunes, forest, marsh, and freshwater — each home to creatures perfectly adapted to island living. Loggerhead sea turtles return each summer to the very beaches where they hatched decades ago. Egrets and herons wade through the creeks at low tide, patient hunters in the shallows. Diamondback terrapins nest along the marsh edge, and the occasional alligator drifts through the lagoons with calm authority.
It’s a portrait of coexistence — and a reminder that when we live here, even part-time, we join a larger community that was thriving long before the first ferry ever arrived.
Lessons in Coexistence
One of the most striking messages in Meet the Wild Neighbors is simple but urgent: The island’s health depends on balance.
Every small decision — how we landscape, light our homes, or walk the beaches — shapes the lives of our wild neighbors. Artificial lights along the shoreline can disorient nesting turtles and hatchlings. Off-trail shortcuts trample dune vegetation that anchors the island’s fragile edges. Even a tossed piece of food teaches raccoons or birds to associate humans with easy meals — and that rarely ends well for them.
Living here or simply visiting means embracing restraint — leaving nests undisturbed, keeping pets leashed, and letting wild things remain wild. Whether you’re here for a week or a lifetime, the wild neighbors of Bald Head Island invite you to live with awareness — to look closer, tread lighter, and protect the extraordinary place we share.
Read the full story in the 2025 issue of Haven Magazine.
📖 View the digital edition here.
Published by Teri Kelly
Tuesday, October 21, 2025