Rainy night in NE Ohio

In the last few days Ike has brought a huge amount of rain and wind through NE Ohio. On Saturday night, I decided to head out to see if the warm rains had brought any amphibians out. From about 9pm to 11 pm, I walked around a forested area looking on the forest floor and tree trunks. I was only interested in seeing what was active on the surface, so I did not flip any logs or rocks.

The most abundant species by far was the green frog (Rana clamitans).

After about 20 minutes of looking, I found a tree with two redback salamanders (Plethodon cinereus) climbing on the trunk. Here is a photo of one:





This individual ate a bug while I watched it, and did not seem too concerned with my presence.

I walked a little further along, and saw another P. cinereus up a tree. This individual was about 6.5 feet (~ 2 meters) up the trunk of the tree, so my photo is not very good. One of the neat things about this individual was that the trunk of its body was actually extended almost perpendicular to the tree trunk, with its belly facing down. Once I got close with my light, it twisted back so that it clung to the tree with its whole body. I do not know what it was doing, but it did not appear to be in trouble.



The last P. cinereus that I photographed was hanging off of some twigs just over the forest floor.



I then took a trail that followed a small stream. I saw a bunch of dusky salamanders (Desmognathus ochrophaeus) and two-lined salamanders Eurycea bislineata. I took a few photos of one of the E. bislineata climbing on a tree:





Overall it was a good night out. While finding amphibians under rocks and logs is fun, I find it a lot more exciting to encounter the animals outside when they are active on the surface.

Hope you enjoyed.

Mike

Great stuff Mike. Thanks for sharing. You've got me in the mood to go looking too. It's still a little warm here though in Texas. By the way, have you seen our Calendar Competition? It closes in 2 weeks. Here's the thread: http://www.caudata.org/forum/showthread.php?t=55873

Awesome pictures, Mike.

For having such spindly legs, it always amazes me how well P. cinereus can climb.

Nice observations. I love taking walks in cool, rainy nights and see salamanders roaming around the forest.

BTW, do you live in NE Ohio? If so where at? I am over in Lake County.

Andy

::: sigh ::: have I mentioned lately how jealous I am of all of you who live in amphibian heavy localities????

AZ has a few amphibians but they are few and far between and so hard to find.

Awesome pictures!! Thanks for sharing!! The pictures you guys share, the few pathetic specimins the petshop gets in and my axolotls are I get to satisfy my salamander/newt cravings!!!

Sharon

Thanks for the kind comments everyone, glad you enjoyed!

John, thanks for the heads-up on the contest, it looks fun. I have a few photos that may be worth entering.

Kaysie, I agree with you, at first glance those little legs look almost useless!

Andy, I just moved to the Cleveland area a few weeks ago - I'll send you a message.

Sharon, the lizards and snakes of AZ almost make up for having a limited salamander selection!

Mike

LOL Mike - I've thought that a time or two! Most recently when I came across a lovely Gila Monster crossing a road - the one and only time I've seen one in the wild.

LOL most of the time I'm cursing as I wrangle snakes out of animal enclosures. Actually last night I pulled a lovely kingsnake out of one of my birdcages (before he had a meal), put him in a burlap sack and took him to be released in a desert far far away. But I took my son to soccer practice and went shopping at walmart first. Then nearly had heart failure when I opened my truck door to find him on the driver seat looking at me.

I had to tell him that NO he could not drive and getting out of his sack was not going to get him released any faster!

Sharon

Actually last night I pulled a lovely kingsnake out of one of my birdcages (before he had a meal), put him in a burlap sack and took him to be released in a desert far far away.

Click to expand...

At least with rattlesnakes (not much work has been done with other species) if you relocate something far far away (more than a mile) the typical outcome for snakes (and turtles) is death. The snake tries to find its home range again and wanders around until it dies or stress related diseases or picked off by predators.

Andy