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I photographed this little guy on a creek bed in norther Ohio. I IDed it as Eurycea bislineata after looking through some pictures on google, can anyone confirm this?
two-lined salamander
- Thread starter Chilobrachys
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Thanks for the quick reply. It warmed up a little bit around here and yesterday i went out hiking and found him. I wasn't aware that they would still be out around this time of year. I also found my first Scolopocryptops sexspinosis (if thats how its spelled).
Now (mid fall) is the time you will find them more, they are not huge fans of heat, so mid summer in the NW its tougher to find them. Spring is good too, but I find fall to be best. My BEST find was a ambystoma opacum. Not real impressive, but my fav!
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That is a gorgeous little salamander!
Cbeard, I was filling deer salt lick once (an area of about 2 feet across) and when I poured the solution in (high salt content) around 40 A. opacum , in all sizes, came running out I have never seen anything quiet like it.
I took them home for a rinse and watched them for a little while, the solution had hurt their skin, once they seemed fine I let them go...but it was a really cool experience.
Cbeard, I was filling deer salt lick once (an area of about 2 feet across) and when I poured the solution in (high salt content) around 40 A. opacum , in all sizes, came running out I have never seen anything quiet like it.
I took them home for a rinse and watched them for a little while, the solution had hurt their skin, once they seemed fine I let them go...but it was a really cool experience.
Wow thats crazy! I bet the salt dried out their skin. Arent they cool looking though?
I've seen a lot of pictures but nothing compares to what they look like in real life. I was flipping logs in a bog and found a VERY gravid female a while back. They are very rare up here, so I never even touched her other than picked her up with a few leaves to put the log back. Of all the things I have found, that was probably the coolest.
I've seen a lot of pictures but nothing compares to what they look like in real life. I was flipping logs in a bog and found a VERY gravid female a while back. They are very rare up here, so I never even touched her other than picked her up with a few leaves to put the log back. Of all the things I have found, that was probably the coolest.
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They are super common down here, you can't flip a log without seeing one, even so they are absolutely gorgeous.
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Do any of you know how to find the spotted salamanders? I know they are around here, but from what I've heard they are very secretive and I have never seen one.
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Look under logs in damp leaf litter in the spring.
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opacum breed during the fall so finding many together would not be unusual.
You may check around southern Ohio in hilly country for spotteds. In Indiana, I have seen more spotted in the southern portion of the state than up north. Check fishless water holes Feb-April when the breeding season is going on and the spotteds are gathering at waterholes to breed. Finding them out of season is difficult because they spend a great deal of time underground.
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I never said this happened in the fall, this took place mid-june. There were only a handful of adults in the group.
I don't know about Ohio, but here in TN spotteds breed on the first rainy night when temps hit about 50 F, and typically the breeding period lasts 1 - 5 days depending on conditions. Spotteds typically breed in vernal ponds and generally return to the same site to breed so once you find a good pond you are set. Additionally the spotteds only come out at night...so to me this is not the ideal time to look, unless you have the night pinned down pretty well. If you get the night right though it can be excellent. I missed it this year, but in 2008 I saw well over 500 in a single vernal pond (albeit a rather large one) some years there have been 1000's. Even though spotteds spend quiet a bit of time underground they move quiet a bit on rainy nights before and after the breeding season, if there is enough cloud cover they will even move during the day. Also, given enough rain spotteds will be easy enough to find under leaf litter in the warmer months.
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Well thanks for all the information guys. I'm going back out tomorrow to hopefully photograph some more. I will be sure to post them on this thread for some more IDs and hopefully keep it going.