Northern CA Salamander Photos

[mike]

Hello folks,

I recently found this website after a post from Russ on kingsnake.com directed me here. It is nice to find a place where so many people have an interest in the natural history and conservation of salamanders as well as their captive propagation.

Since the amphibians are really moving in California now, here are some Nor Cal salamanders. All photos taken in Napa County, CA. Many of them were taken within the last few weeks.

Best,

Mike

Aneides lugubris:

 

[mike]

California Newts, Taricha torosa. These salamanders are breeding in huge numbers in Napa right now.

Sometimes pacific treefrogs get confused

 

[mike]

CA Slender Salamander (Batrachoseps attenuatus)

Ensatina

And while it is not a salamander, the natural historians and other amphibian fans may appreciate this photo:

This a giant water bug (Lethocerus americanus) eating a male pacific treefrog (Hyla (Pseudacris) regilla). These bugs show up near the end of the frog's mating season, and hammer the frogs. I've seen one attack an adult newt, but it released the newt after about 30 minutes. The newt swam away, but I wasn't able to catch it, so I don't know if it survived.

Finally, here is an example of one of the ponds in which the newts and pacific treefrogs breed in Napa County:

More photos at
www.mister-toad.com/herps.html

 

[erik]

Great photos Mike! I can't wait for spring in the midwest US.

 

[jon]

wow seeing those photos makes me wanna go out and start searching for newts and other amphibians.. does anyone know what species would live in connecticut? or even new england for that matter.

 

[jarid]

Those are some great pics, esp. the water bug eating the treefrog.
Jon - http://ctamp.homestead.com/ctamphibians.html

 

[russ]

Great pics. I wish more people would post what they see locally.

RUSS

 

[lemercier]

Great pictures Mike!
The best way to see urodeles is in the wild!
Congratulations for your website!

 

[benjamin]

To answer you question Jon, there are tons. More common ones will be tiger sals and eastern newts but there are many plethodontids as well. I have a book which says that there are between 20 and 30 amphibian species in that area.

 

[mike]

Thanks for all the positive comments. They are very nice to read. I have piles of photos of N. American and some other herps, but most of them are slides, and its hard to get the time to scan lots of them.

The conneticut amphibians website is great. So is urodeles.com, although I haven't had to read french in a decade.


Jon, the peterson field guide to Eastern Reptiles and Amphibians is an incredibly valuable resource to have. Authors are Conant and Collins. Also, there was a book by Michael Klemens on Conn. herps, but I don't know if it is still in print. I didn't buy a copy when I had a chance, and I haven't been able to find it since. You could probably go to the right place today and find some active plethodontids, although it might not be fun! Many stream-dwelling plethodontids stay active throughout winter under the ice of streams. Although you'd probably want insulated waders and trapper's gloves to find them.

Here's one other photo, one of my favorites. It is indirectly related to salamanders through a three link food web. The cal kingsnake was found eating the common garter snake in one of the ponds I work in. The garter snakes eat lots of the newts when pacific treefrogs aren't available.

 

[jon]

nice! im gonna have to check it out come spring time. thanks!

 

[mike]

Michael, I agree, those sort of mixed matings are always amusing to see. Strangely enough, it is not often that I see the regilla get confused like that. It seems to be more common in explosive-breeders like wood frogs.

I felt very lucky to come accross that Lampropeltis/Thamnophis predation event. I have regularly (3-5 times a week May-June) visted that pond for four years, and have only seen that sort of predation event once. Although three other times I found kingsnakes patroling the edge of the pond in the mid-afternoon. Unfortunately I wasn't able to stick around long enough to see if they would try to catch a garter snake.

Jon, if you get a chance, visit some vernal pools at night just as the ice is melting near the end of winter. You may be able to see the big 'love dance' of the spotted salamander (Ambystoma maculatum). Imagine a swarm of 40 to 100 salamanders swirling around one another while there is snow on the ground and ice around the edge of the ponds! When I lived in NY, that was one of the first signs of spring to me.

All the best,

Mike

 

[pin-pin]

Mike, those are wonderful photos. I've been watching the Taricha matings in the local ponds here as well, but have not yet gotten the amusement of seeing a frog/newt amplexus!

Please do share more photos (especially of the Tarichas!)

 

[mark]

Awesome photos, love all the pics! Keep up the good work, I would be taking pics of my local amphibians, but there is hardly anything good in Colorado, except for tiger sals.

 

[mike]

Hi Pin-Pin,

Where are you located? That H. regilla amplexing the Taricha was a pretty rare event. I saw several occurences of it in one night,
and that night happened to be one in which there was a heavy rain and the frogs were all breeding in a frenzy. Hundreds of frogs
at a single pond. I suspect that has something to do with why they were making the mistake.

Here are a few more photos for you.

First, here is 'Fordyce Pond'. It is a former stock pond, much like the one in the earlier photo. Interestingly, these stock ponds
dry between May and September, and generally leave a pile of dead Taricha larvae at the bottom. But some Taricha do metamorphose from them,
and sometimes at very large sizes.

Here is 'Salamander Creek'. This is a largely permanent spring, which is very close to Fordyce pond. In fact, when Fordyce pond spills over,
it flows into salamander creek.

Here are some newts moving and laying eggs in salamander creek. You can see the water is a lot more clear. In contrast to Fordyce Pond, Salamander
Creek is much colder, mostly permanent (I haven't seen it totally dry in 5 years), and has much fewer prey items for Taricha larvae.
Taricha larvae will stay in this creek for at least a year. One of the things that impresses me the most about amphibians is how plastic
different aspects of their larval period are. The differences in size and age at metamorphosis between newts in Fordyce pond and Salamander
Creek is a great example of that.

If you get a chance, post some photos of your local newts.

Mark B. - have you ever had a chance to go out and find the big paedomorphic A. tigrinum in Colorado?

 

[pin-pin]

Hello Mike,

I live rather near to San Francisco.

I've sent you an e-mail. These photos, again, are fantastic. Most of the Tarichas that I've seen have been in slightly murky ponds similar to the first two photos you posted.

 

[mike]

Hi Mike,

You have some great photos there! Post more if you have the opportunity. I never get tired of the east coast salamanders. The diversity there just blows me away!

Mike

 

[mark]

Mike- No, I haven't, I don't know where to look, obvious streams and such, but I can't find any good ones.

P.s. Love the pics!

 

[joseph]

Nice photos! Wish I would be able to get out at this time of year. We don't have many Psuedacris in my city but they seem to breed at least a month later than this time of year. Hopefully they CA caudates will still be crawling around in April when I get another chance to take a look around.

 

[kim]

If only England had such a wide range of newts to be found

But im happy with ours!

Great pictures Mike, and yes please post some more if you have any!