Blog moved

We have consolidated out blogs - all future salamander monitoring posts can be found here, on our Wilderness Wanderings Blog. Please visit us there!

First Salamanders of the Year

Yesterday was nearly 70 degrees here at The Wilderness Center. These two salamanders - a Dusky and a Redbacked were found near the vernal pond on the Wilderness Walk. Both have a naso-labial groove, a small groove running from nose to lip (labeled on the Red-backed picture. Chemical cues in the environment are picked up by the capillary action of this groove. This groove is a defining characteristic of the Plethodon (lungless) Salamanders.

Spring!

The salamanders will be moving soon! If you would like to be part of our annual migration night hikes to see the Spotted Salamander, give us a call at 330-359-5235 or email carrie@wildernesscenter.org to be put on the call list. We'll call (or email) with details about when the hikes will be.

See you on the trail!
~Carrie

A Long Winter's Nap

We won't be seeing too many salamanders now until the first warm rainy days of spring. If you would like to be notified of our spring salamander night hikes, please email Carrie at carrie@wildernesscenter.org or call 877-359-5235. We'll do our first hike as soon as we get a nice warm rainy night this Spring.

This Longtail Salamander was found during our docent training yesterday. This is a new species record for The Wilderness Center. This one appears to have lost its tail and not fully regenerated it yet. Normally, the tail is around 60% of the total body length. These salamanders prefer shale banks or seepage areas - this one was found in a spring flowing through a limestone outcropping.

Salamander Hunting

This week, instead of our usual Wilderness Walk (see TWC homepage for dates of upcoming hikes), I took the group salamander hunting. These pictures are from that hike. Thanks to everyone on the hike - you are salamander hunters par excellenence! We found nearly 40 salamanders in under an hour. We found Ravine Salamanders, Red-backed salamanders (incuding the lead-backed phase), and a Jefferson Salamander. We also a beautiful red cup fungus and the first American Toad of the season.

Spermataphores

A sure sign that salamanders have been busy in the spring pond are these gelatinous blobs. The blobs are called spermataphores, and are small sperm packets. Males deposit these packets; females squat over them and the packets are taken into the cloaca where they will fertilize the eggs. We should be seeing egg masses soon!