MOAR Tiger salamanders.
Posted: February 18th, 2015, 6:14 pm
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.
Tiger salamander. by Joshua W. Young, on Flickr
Tiger #2. Nicknamed Halftail.
Tiger salamander. by Joshua W. Young, on Flickr
Tiger #3.
Tiger salamander. by Joshua W. Young, on Flickr
Tiger #4.
Tiger salamander by Joshua W. Young, on Flickr
Tiger #5. The smallest and the female out of the bunch.
Tiger 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.
Tiger salamanders. by Joshua W. Young, on Flickr
One of the 3 mole salamanders.
Mole salamander. by Joshua W. Young, on Flickr
One of the lightest spring peepers I have ever seen.
Spring peeper. by Joshua W. Young, on Flickr
And an upland chorus frog.
Upland 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.
Eastern ribbon snake. by Joshua W. Young, on Flickr
Gray rat snake found by peeling bark (not a task I often partake in).
Gray 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.
Ground 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.
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.
Tiger salamander. by Joshua W. Young, on Flickr
Tiger #2. Nicknamed Halftail.
Tiger salamander. by Joshua W. Young, on Flickr
Tiger #3.
Tiger salamander. by Joshua W. Young, on Flickr
Tiger #4.
Tiger salamander by Joshua W. Young, on Flickr
Tiger #5. The smallest and the female out of the bunch.
Tiger 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.
Tiger salamanders. by Joshua W. Young, on Flickr
One of the 3 mole salamanders.
Mole salamander. by Joshua W. Young, on Flickr
One of the lightest spring peepers I have ever seen.
Spring peeper. by Joshua W. Young, on Flickr
And an upland chorus frog.
Upland 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.
Eastern ribbon snake. by Joshua W. Young, on Flickr
Gray rat snake found by peeling bark (not a task I often partake in).
Gray 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.
Ground 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.