MOAR Tiger salamanders.

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Josh Young
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Joined: June 7th, 2010, 9:59 pm
Location: Wakulla County, Florida
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MOAR Tiger salamanders.

Post by Josh Young »

So, after finding my first tiger salamanders intentionally this past November, I have become addicted to Ambystoma. This past Monday night/early Tuesday morning I drove an hour and a half north of where I live to an area I visited last year. I was hoping to see some different salamanders moving across the roads, mostly a spotted or perhaps even maybe a red or mud salamander if I was lucky.

My friend who I had met up with at this area had flipped a tiger just a few minutes before I had arrived at the spot we were meeting up at, so I knew tigers were present. As soon as the rain had lessened from the torrential downpour, that I couldn't even see more than a few feet ahead of me in, and the rain became much lighter, I made out my first salamander crossing the road, a tiger salamander. It was crossing in the exact area that my buddy had flipped his at.

I ended up finding 4 more tigers, 4 males and a female, in total, as well as 3 mole salamanders crossing all in that area and that was all for salamanders. I also saw and heard plenty of upland chorus frogs and spring peepers.

The tigers.

Tiger #1.

ImageTiger salamander. by Joshua W. Young, on Flickr

Tiger #2. Nicknamed Halftail.

ImageTiger salamander. by Joshua W. Young, on Flickr

Tiger #3.

ImageTiger salamander. by Joshua W. Young, on Flickr

Tiger #4.

ImageTiger salamander by Joshua W. Young, on Flickr

Tiger #5. The smallest and the female out of the bunch.

ImageTiger salamander. by Joshua W. Young, on Flickr

4 of the 5 together in a botched attempt at a group photo before release. The 5th slipped off the log and darted underneath it, so I just let him be.

ImageTiger salamanders. by Joshua W. Young, on Flickr

One of the 3 mole salamanders.

ImageMole salamander. by Joshua W. Young, on Flickr

One of the lightest spring peepers I have ever seen.

ImageSpring peeper. by Joshua W. Young, on Flickr

And an upland chorus frog.

ImageUpland chorus frog. by Joshua W. Young, on Flickr


Figure I'd also share a couple photos from a trip I took to my west towards the most southwest corner of the state. Went over to a WMA just to poke around in the warm weather.

Ribbon snake found under a half submerged log while flipping for salamanders at a spot I had found slimy salamanders at the previous year.

ImageEastern ribbon snake. by Joshua W. Young, on Flickr

Gray rat snake found by peeling bark (not a task I often partake in).

ImageGray rat snake. by Joshua W. Young, on Flickr

And a ground skink found by hearing it scurrying through the leaf litter behind me while photographing the gray rat snake.

ImageGround skink. by Joshua W. Young, on Flickr

That's it for now, hopefully after this freeze passes through the next couple of days I'll be able to stir up some more snakes and salamanders during the weekend. Thanks for looking.
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mtratcliffe
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Joined: January 19th, 2014, 4:34 pm
Location: Mt Laurel, NJ

Re: MOAR Tiger salamanders.

Post by mtratcliffe »

Nice finds! Your stretch of Georgia seems very productive. I'm ready for this cold front to move on out!
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Josh Holbrook
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Re: MOAR Tiger salamanders.

Post by Josh Holbrook »

Those tigrinum are something else. Have you hiked any up in their breeding ponds this season?
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Berkeley Boone
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Joined: June 8th, 2010, 4:02 am

Re: MOAR Tiger salamanders.

Post by Berkeley Boone »

Man, those are all great photos Josh. Superb looking tigers. I am really liking your Ribbon photo though.
Great finds all around.
--Berkeley
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Josh Young
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Joined: June 7th, 2010, 9:59 pm
Location: Wakulla County, Florida
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Re: MOAR Tiger salamanders.

Post by Josh Young »

Josh Holbrook wrote:Those tigrinum are something else. Have you hiked any up in their breeding ponds this season?
Didn't get to hike any in the vernals this season, maybe as the year progresses I'll run into the owner of the property where I found them here and be able to get access to shine the vernals during the next season.
Berkeley Boone wrote:Man, those are all great photos Josh. Superb looking tigers. I am really liking your Ribbon photo though.
Great finds all around.
--Berkeley
I liked the ribbon photo too, my best of a ribbon ever. I just got a Samyang 10mm wide angle lens which is what I took it with and I'm looking forward to perfecting more shots like that one as the months progress.
mtratcliffe wrote:Nice finds! Your stretch of Georgia seems very productive. I'm ready for this cold front to move on out!
Sometimes it is, sometimes it's not. My area is very fickle, pretty much bipolar. It's not as good as it was in the years before I moved to SoFla, granted some species I don't notice a difference in their numbers, whereas others, like the diamondbacks, I have noticed quite a lack of compared to years when growing up here.
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