Ambystoma mavortium is my personal favorite amphibian. One of our tasks in the herpetology class I took was to make a web page for one of the reptiles or amphibians of Idaho. I turned in this; http://idahoherps.pbwiki.com/Ambystoma+mavortium,+Barred+Tiger+Salamander. As a child I would find these critters in window wells around my neighborhood. I usually had about four in my room at a time in a vivarium. Then I found the pond that was producing them a few blocks away. It was in the city limits, so it was replaced with houses. I had heard they were endangered on the Palouse, the wheat growing region Moscow Idaho is in. The Palouse was mostly prairie before the farmers discovered how good this region is for growing wheat and dried legumes, especially lentils and dried peas. I have a pond in my yard made from a 250 gallon pond form. Long-toed salamanders, Abystoma macrodactylum breed in it every spring. How they first got there is a story in and of its self. I found out larvae have recently been seen in ponds out at the Palouse-Clearwater Environmental Institute Palouse restoration project just north of town. That brings tears to my eyes from the spiritual bond I feel for the creatures.
Gawd, those are awful creatures! They are violent and malicious. One of them tried to rip my sister’s arm clean off, and I heard tell of a gang of them holding up a liquor store not far from here. Several of them were used in creating the movie Jurassic Park, but only for the more bloody and disturbing scenes.
You wouldn’t want to date one of them.
djm
Very, very neat! We have mostly Spotted here. Just finished breeding in late Feb. I have also located A. jeffersonianum and A. opacum but no A. tigrinum
That sounds more like the Idaho Giant Salamander, Dicamptodon aterrimus; http://idahoherps.pbwiki.com/Dicamptodon+aterrimus+-+Idaho+Giant+Salamander+
Aww! So cute! Do you know what kind of mouse he is eating?
Her name was Doris. She was a good mouse.
djm
Awesome! And good for you for giving them a safe place Rod.
It always tickles me to stumble across salamandars and lizards and snakes in my yard. I occasionally bring a moss and lichen encrusted stone out of the woods to place in a shady bed beneath trees in my yard. Had to gently replace several early last Fall when I realized…after lifting them…that there were some tiny salamandars living under them. They were 2-2.5" tops so they were probably immature. Accidently dug up a 6" tiger while preparing a garden bed—how in the devil I dug it up with a spade without killing it I’ll never know, but it didn’t have a scratch (I checked twice).
We just had a discussion in Boy Scouts about how “Respect wildlife” in Leave No Trace means don’t pick up the salamanders. The guys got it but they weren’t happy about it…