Salamanders

Salamanders are currently active in the very early days of spring, sometimes before the ice has left the ponds.  They are already leaving their burrows and heading to nearby ponds to mate.  After finding a mate, males will deposit one to two spermatophores, a large gelatinous glob capped with sperm, into a quiet patch of water in a woodland pond.  His mate will crawl over it, taking up sperm into her cloaca and storing it for a few days up to a year until she uses it to internally fertilize her eggs.  Egg sacs containing one to several hundred eggs are attached to vegetation near the bottom of a quiet patch of water.  Eggs hatch into aquatic, gilled larvae called tadpoles that spend four to six months growing in the pond.  They will transform into adults near the end of summer and leave the aquatic habitat to live in woodland areas, returning to ponds to breed each year.

Spotted salamanders, Ambystoma maculatum, are abundant over the entire Great Lakes region, although they are rarely seen after the spring breeding season.  They live in burrows dug by other animals, under logs, or under leaf litter.  Feeding on snails, slugs, and  small invertebrates, they prefer to forage in woods adjacent to semi-permanent wetlands.  Populations will quickly disappear if woodland habitats are disturbed by clearing, grazing, or human activities.

Blue-spotted salamanders, Ambystoma laterale, are more cold-tolerant and are among the first species in our area to move to the ponds in late February and early March as temperatures warm and snow disappears.  They prefer moist woodlands and they are not bothered by woodland disturbances.  They can also be found in drier upland woods, backyards, and urban areas as long as there is nearby water.  During the warmer months, blue-spotted salamanders can sometimes be found hunting during the day, especially during rainstorms.

Tiger salamanders, Ambystoma tigrinum, are one of the more aggressive species of salamander, readily eating larger prey including other salamanders.  They live near vernal streams, ponds, and marshes.  Unlike other salamanders that live in abandoned  animal burrows, tiger salamanders will dig their own burrows, up to two feet deep.  They prefer permanent bodies of water, preferably without fish, but can also be found in prairies, woodlands, and backyards.  They are active year-round, avoiding periods of temperature extremes by staying deep underground.

The central newt, Notophthalmus viridescens louisianensis, and the common mudpuppy, Necturus maculosus, are two other species found in this area in the salamander order Caudata.  Both of these species have life cycles that differ from the other salamander families.  Newts hatch as tadpoles, then metamorphose into juveniles, called efts, and metamorphose a second time to an aquatic adult, returning to live underwater in local wetlands.  Mudpuppies hatch as a fully grown adult and live their whole lives in a permanent wetland, never leaving the water.  They are mostly nocturnal, but may move about in deeply shaded areas.  Mudpuppies can swim like a fish, folding their legs flat against the sides of their body, or  walk on the bottom.  They can be easily identified by the large red gills directly behind their heads.

All species of salamanders can secret a toxin along their backs and tails that is deadly to some predators and makes them taste terrible to others.  They are harmless to people, but are threatened by loss of wetlands, road building, and woodland clearing activities.  The best conservation for all species is protection of our existing wetland habitats.  They are small and hard to spot, but keep your eyes open in early spring as you venture out to walk among the forest preserve ponds.