Spring is a great time of year to look for salamanders! Salamanders are a kind of amphibian. They have smooth skin, no teeth, and no claws.
Salamanders need to keep their skin moist. As a result, they live in wet places. Some salamanders spend their whole lives in the water. Others live in moist spots, like under rotting logs.
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| A redback salamander |
We peeked under a rotting log this weekend to find the salamander to your right. If you are looking for salamanders, be very careful. Lots of creatures live under rotting logs--and not all of them are friendly! We found earthworms, some millipedes, and a centipede with this salamander.
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| Salamander eggs???? |
If you are looking for salamanders in Pennsylvania, you'll probably find plenty of redback salamanders like this one. These salamanders can be tricky to identify, as you might see some in their "lead" phase. These don't have the red line down their backs.
We found these eggs under the same log as the redback salamander. Redback salamanders spend their lives on land, and the mother is known to guard the eggs. While it's quite possible that these eggs are the redback salamander eggs, I'm not entirely sure.
