Wednesday, October 22, 2014
A Futile Hunt
Among my many interests as a naturalist and conservationist are salamanders. They are very fascinating amphibians, and come in a wide variety of shapes and colors. My personal favorites are the mole salamanders. These are robust and strong, living subterranean lives. This group includes spotted salamanders. I typically find juveniles in the area around my home this time of year. Unfortunately, on a recent search, none turned up. It is still fascinating to find red back salamanders, centipedes, and wasps, but it is deeply concerning to compare this lack of spotted's with previous years. The decline has been dramatic.
with temps dropping, (near-frost this week) the spotted salamanders are going to be more scarce. this weeks rain might bring out the last of them for the year. they are just hiding better in the recent months lower water column. I have a small vernal pool that is usually muddy all summer, but the last few months it has been pretty dry. They're there, just underground. wait till after a few days rain and then go look again, maybe you'll find signs of life before they hibernate.
ReplyDeleteI certainly hope so, last year there were only a few.
DeleteInteresting critters. Looks like you had rain. Thanks for the pics. Fish on...
ReplyDeleteWe were in the process of receiving some.
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