Salamander rain '09 *PICS* Sunday- update

[punkin]

That is soooo cool. I'd love to do that myself.

I'll bet it's something like the "frog" rains we get. Same thing, at night after a rain, the frogs will cross the road to the ponds.

 

[ticks]

That is soooo cool. I'd love to do that myself.

I'll bet it's something like the "frog" rains we get. Same thing, at night after a rain, the frogs will cross the road to the ponds.

Yeah. there was a TON of frogs last night. I picked up and just lightly tossed them to the side of the road (in the direction they were heading.) There is an over abundance of frogs and they are common here, so I was just helping the Salamanders.

 

[sylvie]

Last spring I was gathering old boards we had piled on the ground to use for covering seeds in the garden. There were about 20 Newts under there, both red and olive green. We have creeks, a pond, a bog and many temporary vernal ponds.
I know we have your type of salamander around here but haven't seen any yet. Certainly not heard of anyone saving them so most likely not in your numbers.
Thanks for sharing those photos!

 

[ticks]

the Spotted Salamander is a mole Salamander which means it spends much time under rocks, logs, it can even dig. The first few warm rainy nights bring them out and they cross the road.

I was shocked that so many people drove by us when they could see we were clearly doing something. It made me feel good everytime we did a run and a car came by. We saved about 10 Salamanders in one run that would have been hit by that car.

 

[ticks]

Here is a couple more pics:

You can see our car's headlights, which I think adds to the pics.

 

[dacjohns]

Ticks,

You are a true life saver.

I'm not a herpetologist and I hadn't heard about salamander rains. From my quick (very quick) look it almost appears to be a New England phenomenon. Pretty cool.

When I was growing up in Southern California we would often get rains that would bring the toads out.

Down here in Southern Illinois we don't have that many vernal pools and there are quite a few ponds and streams that support the salamander population.

We also have an area where the road is closed seasonally because the snakes become active and cross the road after ending their winter hibernation.

In New Mexico there were a few vernal pools that would support different frogs and toads but no salamander rains.

 

[patandchickens]

Oh man, ticks, you are KILLIN' me here... I so seriously miss Ambystoma and frogs and all that. My PhD dissertation was on temporary pond communities (even used spotted salamander larvae in one experiment) and I was in a herp ecology lab (in NC) so we pretty much LIVED on that sort of thing.

Have you found the ponds where they're breeding, and gone to see them on one of the 'big nights' (swarming all over in certain parts of the pond, males depositing spermatophores, later females picking them up and then laying eggs), or seen the egg masses, or raised the larvae? You've got to, if you can get permission or whatever for the land. They are exceedingly cool.

We don't have them up here and in fact there were none I could find when I lived in W NY before I moved up here, although in principle they're in the area. I did have the consolation of a large population of fairy shrimp there. Do any of your temporary ponds have fairy shrimp? That's another really good one.

Dying of jealosy but very happy to see someone else appropriately admiring (and saving! the salamanders,

Pat

 

[ticks]

Oh man, ticks, you are KILLIN' me here... I so seriously miss Ambystoma and frogs and all that. My PhD dissertation was on temporary pond communities (even used spotted salamander larvae in one experiment) and I was in a herp ecology lab (in NC) so we pretty much LIVED on that sort of thing.

Have you found the ponds where they're breeding, and gone to see them on one of the 'big nights' (swarming all over in certain parts of the pond, males depositing spermatophores, later females picking them up and then laying eggs), or seen the egg masses, or raised the larvae? You've got to, if you can get permission or whatever for the land. They are exceedingly cool.

We don't have them up here and in fact there were none I could find when I lived in W NY before I moved up here, although in principle they're in the area. I did have the consolation of a large population of fairy shrimp there. Do any of your temporary ponds have fairy shrimp? That's another really good one.

Dying of jealosy but very happy to see someone else appropriately admiring (and saving! the salamanders,

Pat

I have seen some of the vernal pools, but it is on posted land so I had to be sneaky. where I found the majority of Salamanders was where they crossed into a large field. I have never seen their egg masses and I so badly want to raise their larva. I just can't find them.

Behind my house there is a vernal pool, but spotteds do not use it, eastern Newts do and I have made a pond aquarium and had newts lay eggs!

I want to make another one, but with baby spotted larva. What do they eat?

 

[patandchickens]

I have seen some of the vernal pools, but it is on posted land so I had to be sneaky. where I found the majority of Salamanders was where they crossed into a large field. I have never seen their egg masses and I so badly want to raise their larva. I just can't find them.

Have you asked the landowner for permission? If you come across like a wide eyed nature-crazed youth (as opposed to someone going to get all conservation-y or someone who could potentially be affiliated with the gummint in any way) a lot of people will look at you like you are a complete idiot and say 'sure, just keep the gates closed and don't bring any friends or I will be out there wiht my shotgun'.

The egg masses are amazing, if you haven't seen them -- large, sometimes VERY large, with a thick outer layer of clear jelly covering the eggs inside (as opposed to frogs' naked egg masses).

Behind my house there is a vernal pool, but spotteds do not use it, eastern Newts do and I have made a pond aquarium and had newts lay eggs!

Newts are pretty good too -- if you can catch any wild larvae (or hatch eggs laid in a box or tank) they are fun desk pets to raise

I want to make another one, but with baby spotted larva. What do they eat?

Very small invertebrates (daphnia, copepods, the smallest isopods and amphipods and tiniest insect larvae) at first; then as they grow, they remain carnivorous but can take considerably larger prey including appropriately sized tadpoles (like peeper or chorus frog tadpoles). They can also be cannibalistic.

Best way to feed them is to go out every coupla days with a fine net and just net stuff out of a temporary pond, remove clumps of algae and critters too big to be food (especially make sure to remove large predatory dragonfly larvae!) and toss it in with the larvae you're raising. They do best in the largest volume of water you can provide, with a light litter of dead leaves netted from the bottom of their pond (i.e. no mud or dirt or anything like that).

Good luck,

Pat

 

[TanksHill]

Wow, I have never seen anything like this. Thanks you for sharing.