Styrofoam salamander

[Lisa Millbank]

I work at the south Co-op location, and we have a recycling center where people can drop off styrofoam.  One of the employees sorting through the styrofoam found a really cute little salamander in a block of molded styrofoam that had collected a little pool of rainwater inside.  It was about 4 inches long from snout to tail tip.  It was black overall, with an irregular, dull greenish pattern down the back.  It had prominent costal grooves on the sides, and big, dark eyes.

 

I don't know if the salamander had crawled into the styrofoam while it was sitting in someone's yard, or if it came from the Co-op property and just liked the wet styrofoam.  In any case, it was healthy, and I told my coworker to take it down to the cottonwood grove/boat dock area by the Corvallis BMX track.  He said it was really wiggly and lively when released next to a rotted cottonwood log.  It had looked quite comfortable inside its little private pool in the styrofoam, although food was probably too scarce there.

 

I couldn't identify it at first.  Many species, like Western Red-backed Salamander, were definitely the wrong color.  I could rule out Ensatina not only by color, but also because there was no constriction at the tail base, and I knew it was not a torrent salamander of any kind due to the body shape.  Later, I looked it up and found that it was a Long-toed Salamander.  I didn't have my camera with me, but this article is extensive and has good photos: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-toed_salamander

 

Lisa

www.neighborhood-naturalist.com

 

[b_g...@comcast.net]

Hi Lisa,

These are some of my favorite salamanders. They are quite common even in the agricultural areas in the flat part of the Willamette Valley. I've caught them with minnow traps in ditches with slow moving water in December and January. This is apparently when they breed down here with our mild winters. I have been amazed about the cold-tolerance of long-toed salamanders. Even when the water temperatures are 5-10 degrees Celsius they can move very quickly. If you catch a roughskin newt in water that cold it can barely move.

How fun!
Cheers,
Bill

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From: "Lisa Millbank" <lisa...@peak.org>
To: "mid-valley Nature" <mid-vall...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, October 6, 2011 11:37:40 AM
Subject: [MidValleyNature:1196] Styrofoam salamander

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[Lisa Millbank]

Hi Bill & all,

 

I didn't realize Long-toed Salamanders could be found all over the valley, and I'll have to start looking in ditches more closely.  I suppose they might spend the dry summer partially underground, like some other mole salamanders do.  Maybe this one was starting to move around with the onset of rain.

 

Pretty soon mushrooms will be popping up everywhere, dried-up lichens will start growing again, and salamanders will be creeping along in the woods.  Slugs and snails will be sliming along.  I can't be too unhappy about the rain starting up again!   

 

Lisa

www.neighborhood-naturalist.com

   

 

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