some recent salamanders found in San Diego

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SurfinHerp
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some recent salamanders found in San Diego

Post by SurfinHerp »

Hello Everyone,

I went out herping on Monday night and had some success finding amphibians - mainly salamanders.


I started out by taking a walk in the early night hours looking for herps that might come out as a large low pressure system approached the coast.

The only herp I found was this dry Western spadefoot toad


Image

Shortly thereafter, rain began falling, so I got in the car and decided to go cruising for salamanders.

I had scoped out a promising road on Google Earth that was only 10 minutes away. Upon arrival, I did two slow laps through the riparian habitat.

On my last leg (4th pass), this unusual-looking arboreal salamander appeared on the edge of the road
Image
Its colors seemed rather pale, as if it was stressed from the long drought, and literally dying to get out in the rain.



Encouraged by this find, I decided to go a little further and try for the introduced tiger salamanders.

Sure enough, after about 15 or 20 minutes of slowly driving through the tiger zone, this huge one came out for me
Image
It measured 4" SVL and 9.5" in total length! Probably the largest 'mander I've ever found.

At this point, it was apparent that conditions were prime for salamanders. (Oddly though, I only saw a couple of Baja treefrogs and a few western toads.)
I continued onward and upward, in hopes of finding Monterey ensatinas. I drove through a lot of decent Monterey habitat, only seeing a couple more western toads, plus another spadefoot.

Then I found this sweet little large-blotched ensatina
Image
This one was actually found south of I-8 at about 3,300 ft. elevation. I never knew they occurred there. Seemed like a better place for Montereys.


A few minutes later, after crossing north of I-8, I found another large-blotched ensatina
Image
This one apparently had an injury on its left eye, but it seemed fine.

Feeling pretty satisfied, I opted to head home the fast way on the interstate. I'm sure that if I kept going the long way home on back roads, I could have found many more large-blotched ensatinas and maybe a Monterey or slender.

Has anyone ever attempted to record every species of SD County salamander in a single night?? I plan to try it once or twice this winter. Let me know if you're interested in joining up, or having a friendly competition.

Cheers,

Jeff
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AndyKraemer
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Re: some recent salamanders found in San Diego

Post by AndyKraemer »

Hey Jeff, nice finds (especially the manders)! I'm a big fan of the color pattern variation in the ensatinas, particularly the ones from the south. Have you sought out the yellow-blotched variety?

Cheers,
Andy
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jamezevanz
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Re: some recent salamanders found in San Diego

Post by jamezevanz »

Cool stuff Jeff. Jealous of the Tiger Salamander. Always wanted to see a big one and since they're invasive in those parts, I'd probably keep it. I never had luck finding large blotched ensatinas on the road, only flipping. Montereys were what I always found on the roads south of I-8. Have you found newts in SD county yet?
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dave_zeldin
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Re: some recent salamanders found in San Diego

Post by dave_zeldin »

Very cool Jeff!
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SurfinHerp
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Re: some recent salamanders found in San Diego

Post by SurfinHerp »

Andy - thanks for the reply. No, I haven't visited yellow-blotched ensatina habitat before. It's a few hours away from San Diego. I may give it a go one of these days - probably in the spring when salamanders can be found under cover.


Jamez - glad you appreciate my post. I've had pretty good luck finding tiger salamanders - found at least one on 2 out of 3 tries. Though the most recent one I found was really big, I've heard they get significantly larger still!
I'm surprised you didn't cruise a klauberi while you were here. Since they're easy to flip, I suppose you didn't spend much time cruising for them. Large-blotched ensatinas are, in my experience, the easiest salamander species to find in SD by cruising. Even on a slow night, I usually find two or three.
Last winter, I discovered a stretch of road in the center of the County that's loaded with Montereys under good conditions. One night I saw 5 in a 1.5 mile stretch on one pass.
Arboreals seem to be the least likely species to find on the roads in SD, although I'm getting better at it. Think I've cruised 5 in the past 18 months.
Slender salamanders are tough to cruise as well, mostly because they're small and look like worms. It can be done though.
I still haven't hiked to the newt habitat in central SD County. Chris P. went there and vouchered a bunch of newts for the database, so I lost some motivation. Instead, I've been searching around the NW corner of the County where they may or may not occur. I found a spot about 2 miles N. of the Riverside County line where newts cross the road in the rain. I keep going back to the area hoping one will show up just S. of the line. It may require accessing private property though.
How far would you have to drive from your house in AK to find a salamander crossing the road at night in the rain??

Dave - thanks for replying. Let me know if you're down for a rain cruise some time this winter.


Jeff
Zach_Lim
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Re: some recent salamanders found in San Diego

Post by Zach_Lim »

Awesome finds, Jeff! Lovely Tiger- how common are they down in Southern California?
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jamezevanz
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Re: some recent salamanders found in San Diego

Post by jamezevanz »

Since none of the confirmed range of newts and salamanders in Alaska is accessible via road from the highway system, I'd have to either fly to Juneau or Ketchikan and rent a car or drive 1500 miles up and around and then back down to Prince Rupert or thereabouts in British Columbia for the chance to drive around looking for snot lizards on the road.

This summer during a warmish downpour in the hour or so of semi-night that we get in late July, I believe I saw a number of wood frogs come out on the still-warm and steamy blacktop of the road to our place where it passes a small bog we call "the moose pond" (because there's often a moose standing in it). I was not able to stop and confirm as I was running late taking someone to the airport. If they were indeed wood frogs, it would have been the first time I've ever seen the conditions needed to bring them out on the road up here.
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SurfinHerp
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Re: some recent salamanders found in San Diego

Post by SurfinHerp »

Zach - the introduced tiger salamanders in San Diego County only occur in a few small locales. I learned of one of them and have been going there on occasion. I think they're pretty common in that particular neighborhood. I don't know anywhere else they can be found with regularity. The closest population of native CA tiger salamanders is in Santa Barbara County - over 3 hours from my house. Not sure how common they are up there. My research suggests they are highly localized and declining.


James - it must be a bummer to live so far from any other herps besides wood frogs, but at least you have good fishing and hunting up there. Next time you find frogs on the road you should definitely snap a voucher and become the first person to enter a road-cruised amphibian in AK in the database.
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