5) North Carolina Scientist Spots Secretive, Slimy Salamander

[Foster Reves]

--------

Now if I could only be so lucky.....


"5) North Carolina Scientist Spots Secretive, Slimy Salamander
(Hellbender)
By Monte Mitchell, 7/14/07,Winston-Salem Journal

Something about the smooth, flat rock just beneath the surface of the
New River prompted biologist Ed Corey to check underneath it Thursday.

On the hunt for a rare, giant salamander, Corey raised the rock, and
yelled out the amphibian's common name to five other searchers across
the water.

"Bring me the net quick! I got him by his head, he's not going
anywhere! Holy cow! My legs are shaking!" Corey yelled.

The scientists netted the hellbender, and learned that this one was a
she, measuring about 1½ feet long. They put her back under her rock,
and marked the spot with the Global Positioning System.

The species, scientific name cryptobranchus alleganiensis, is the
nation's largest salamander - up to 2½ -feet long - and is secretive.

The salamanders have flat heads and wide bodies to slide under rocks.
They're primitive looking, beady-eyed and covered in a protective
mucous slime. Some people call them "snot otters."

But scientists say hellbenders are important in helping maintain a
stream's ecology and are good indicators for water quality.

Although hellbenders are rare, searchers found a hellbender in the
New River last summer.

There have been only 59 documented hellbender sightings in North
Carolina since 1908, according to the N.C. Natural Heritage Program.
Thursday's was the fifth since 2000.
Searchers in wet suits and snorkels had covered about 200 yards of
the river in a little more than an hour when Corey nabbed his
hellbender.

Corey is an inventory biologist for the state park service. His job
is to keep tabs on the variety of species. He says that New River
State Park is North Carolina's only state park that contains
hellbenders.

In May, searchers found a hellbender in Avery County's Toe River and
one in the Watauga River in Watauga County. One had been spotted in
Alleghany County in 2002.

The hellbender is a federal and state species of concern. Experts say
they estimate that North Carolina has one of the healthiest remaining
hellbender populations in the nation.

They expect that there are many more spots that harbor hellbenders,
and a concerted effort to find them is getting under way.

The searchers found another one down river Thursday afternoon.

Wildlife biologist Lori Williams of the N.C. Wildlife Resources
Commission said that it's important to know where the hellbenders are
because development along the river can affect water quality.

"The main thing is they can't take silt or sediment, and we're seeing
more and more of that," she said.

[Ryan]

Neat information. I'm sure you'll have a chance (or another one if you have already seen one) to see a mighty hellbender. When I saw the title with "slimy salamander" I was like "well slimys aren't that rare".

If only hellbenders were as common as slimy sals than I'm sure you and all the other hellbender hunters (without killing mind you) would be in heaven.