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MA Press: Salamanders surface in the spring

wes_von_papineäu

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CAPE COD TIMES (Hyannis, Massachusetts) 06 April 08 Salamanders surface in the spring (K.C. Myers)
Cummaquid: If you ran into a spotted salamander, you'd suspect it escaped from the exotic section of a pet shop. It's just too dramatic for flinty New England.
Yet the dark blue-black salamander with striking white spots and about the length of a large spoon isn't even threatened. They live among us. It's just that they live under rocks or logs in low-lying forests. They only come out at night to eat and, in the spring, after a soaking rain to mate.
They will actually trek long distances after a heavy rain to lay their eggs in vernal pools and ponds.
And right now is the best time to see them.
Ian Ives, director of the Long Pasture Wildlife Sanctuary in Cummaquid, led a group tour of the vernal pools at the sanctuary yesterday. Vernal pools can be several feet or several yards long, he said. They contain no fish because they often dry out. In fact, most pools dry out by July.
The pool where the group spent the most time yesterday was about hip deep and filled with small bushes that were being consumed by voracious vines. The vine's gray branches were turning green, announcing the impending season.
But it was in the depths of the small pool that wholly different signs of spring were happening.
You could blink and miss these mucky pools. Yet they are the only breeding grounds for many frogs, salamanders and invertebrate wildlife, Ives said.
Fairy shrimp, a delicate feathery pink invertebrate found in abundance during yesterday's plunge into the pool, spend their entire lives in vernal pools. They lay eggs before they die. The eggs survive through the winter in the muck, Ives said.
Wood frogs and several species of salamanders use these pools to lay their eggs. The eggs of the frogs and salamanders grow into gelatinous sacks that float on the surface. The sacks are flecked with eggs and, judging from the examples presented by Ives yesterday, look like an amorphous blob of Jello containing capers.
"That is cool but really gross," said Ian Cole, 8, of Osterville.
The wildlife in the pools and the pools themselves are important, disappearing habitats for many birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians, some of them state-listed rare species, Ives said.
There is a way to help protect them from development, he said.
One can certify a vernal pool with the Massachusetts Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program by proving the presence of one or more species that are dependent on the pools for breeding or for life.
Many school groups certify pools as a way to protect and to observe wildlife, Ives said.
Once certified, the pools and their boundaries cannot be filled in and altered, Ives said.
If you think you have a vernal pool near you, contact the Natural Heritage program at 508-792-7270, ext. 200 or go to www.state.ma.us/dfwele/dfw/nhesp/heritage.htm.
http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080406/NEWS/804060324
 
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