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!


On an unrelated note, near seasonal wetlands, cooler weather means it is time for the Marbled Salamanders (Ambystoma opacum) to move to these temporary wetlands to breed. I am not doing any studies with Marbled Salamanders, but they are fun to go see.

The salamanders arrive at the ponds before they fill with water. The males drop spermatophores (basically small packets of sperm) which the females pick up and lay their eggs. The females then wait with the eggs until the pond fills with water. The eggs hatch almost immediately when the pond fills.

Ambystoma salamanders are very different from the salamanders I study and usually talk about on this blog. These 'mole salamanders' have lungs (unlike the ones I study) and breed in ponds. All of this family have a distinct aquatic larval stage, when they first hatch they resemble tadpoles with large gills and do not have rear legs. Some species have paedomorphic populations. Paedomorphic means the retention of juvenile traits. In this case, juvenile coloration and gills can be maintained in breeding adults for some populations at permanent ponds.

A few friends and I went out to the wetland on a wet cool night in late September and saw several male Marbled Salamanders wandering around.

A couple were even climbing up grass:

It is hypothesized that Ambystoma salamanders climb on grasses to look for the ponds. 

Two males, clearly demonstrating the variation in size

This male's swollen vent (under the tail) is clearly visible and
 helps distinguish gender