Fall-ing into Winter

The last surveys for the season were conducted in October. We had a few un usual nights with about 50 animals the first night, almost 100 the second, and less than 20 the third. That third night it got colder and was slightly breezy. We tend to see fewer salamanders once it starts to get cold and wind makes the salamanders dry out faster, so they can spend less time foraging for insects when it is windy. Although, it was slightly breezy on the second night as well, when we saw an abundance of animals. I'm not entirely sure what was going on there, except that it was warmer.

No salamanders were caught climbing on plants the third night, which was not surprising based on the few animals we saw. We did see several animals climbing plants on the second night, despite the wind.
A few highlights from the October surveys:

If you look closely on the lower part of the branch is a slime
spot from where the salamander was sitting earlier!

A beautiful, bright orange Spring Salamander (Gyrinophilus porphyritucus) was an exciting sighting one night! These large salamanders frequently snack on other salamanders but can be tricky to find.

There are two salamanders climbing in this picture,
can you see both?

Very distinctive "Y" on the back of this Seepage
Salamander (Desmognathus aeneus)

These two were sitting on some low, cut Rhododendron plants next to the road on the second night. One of them remained there for several hours despite a noticeable breeze.

Neat red spots on the back of this juvenile, these are fairly
common but disappear in adults

Very large mental gland on this guy

The leg of a harvestman was sticking out of this salamander's mouth.
Turns out we caught him climbing on vegetation, so that's
probably where he got the snack!

And some other random pictures of salamanders climbing on vegetation, just because they are cute. :)

Cute moment, makes one wonder if the smaller one is trying to avoid the larger one

After this survey in mid October, it rapidly grew colder. Once the temperatures drop below freezing consistently (or remain below freezing for an entire day) the salamanders stop foraging on the surface at night. They hibernate in burrows underground for the winter and emerge again in the spring!