Of Worms, Bullheads, and Salamanders

Some people get their inner little kid smothered not long after they are no longer little kids. The pressures to grow up aren't always a good thing, and sometimes they are enough to kill curiosity, wonder, and the urge to explore. Some people just don't hold on to that. I was lucky: my parents, my friends, many of the teachers I had in school... they encouraged me, directly or indirectly, to stay curious and excited about learning. And because of that, the same little kid in me that wanted to go to an aquarium or on a whale watch for my birthday instead of having a party at Chuck-E-Cheese or something is still alive and well. Few are the days when at some point he doesn't whisper "let's go play". That little kid is just a giddy as ever on a warm, rainy spring night that might bring out some amphibians.

Plethodon cinereus, red-backed salamander

Ambystoma maculatum, spotted salamander

Ambystoma opacum, marbled salamander

Wet, rainy spring nights bring out a lot more than salamanders. I've been pleased to see a lot of bats lately, and more than a few barred owls have swooped low over my head, so close I felt their presence before I saw them. Turtles have been showing themselves more and more. American and Fowler's toads have emerged and are making their shrill calls from pond and river edges, not far from pickerel frogs which are making a much deeper, almost groan like call. I don't find many Fowler's toads, which can be easily distinguished by looking at the number of warts on their dorsal dark spots. American toads will have one, maybe two, in each spot. Fowler's will have three or more. American toads also get a bit larger.

Anaxyrus americanus, American toad

Lithobates catesbeianus, American bullfrog

Lithobates clamitans, green frog

It isn't just herps, birds of prey, and flying insectivorous mammals out either... worms have been escaping their flooding homes en masse. The amount I saw the other night as the rain tapered off was staggering. And it gave me an idea.

At 3:00 a.m. on a rainy spring night, I sat in the wet grass, watching for my rod to bend. And it did, a great deal, a bunch of times. And it was pure joy.

The same little kid in me that loves salamanders and frogs, and exploring the woods in the night also has never lost the pure joy that comes when a bullhead confidently swims off with with a night crawler. And that is so important to me. I don't care how many species I catch, how many big fish on the fly, how many places I've been; if I can ever say that I never want to catch a farm pond bullhead on a worm again, or venture out to look for frogs, toads, and salamanders... I will have lost that little kid, and my life will no longer be everything that I value about it now. 

Simple, exciting, strange, and full of things to learn. 

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