Look what I found

I was out and about today checking on my local fishing spot and found this guy, or girl I think I may and figured on how seeing she was so still she would be great for a shot and some practice. As I approached I realize she was to lifeless to be true and that she was. She was dead.


She seemed to me to be in good health but when I picked her up there was no response. I noticed that when I turned her over she seemed to have broken blood vessels or something like her blood had internally ruptured. You could see some spots of blood under her skin. As i wondered what happened to her I noticed the water level was low and what I thought at first to be a spring a few weeks back when I noticed this spot was just a pipe spewing cold water into the stream which is what seemed to have made it a good trout spot. I also had not seen any trout either, all the big boys that hid along the rocks near the spring were gone.

I'm not to familiar yet with wild salamander and newt species in PA so if someone could help me out that would be nice.

Thanks, JAY

Looks like a Longtail Salamander Eurycea longicauda longicauda.

Thanks, could they also be called green salamanders? I know they don't look green at all but I did a google on PA amphibians and that is what I came up with. As far as her death, I think she may have drowned. The pipe that was controlling the spring had occasional started back up and I actually found her on a log that had seemed to be at one point a drift but now stuck on some rocks. I think she may had been at the wrong spot at the wrong time, and when the pipe started the flow of water again she got washed away. Very sad for me cause I have never seen any Sal's around this spot and kept my eyes open but I have come across some newts or maybe saly larva. I don't know actually cause they always got away.

Here's a better page of PA amphibs:
http://www.fish.state.pa.us/salamander.htm
Yours is indeed a longtail sal.

And thank god for that, it would have broken my heart now knowing that the green is threatened but then again I have found quite a few of these guys today alive but not as big.

Thanks that was nice of you.

Yeah, thats the website I used. I should have posted it, thanks Jen.

Longtails are one of my favorite PA salamanders. I am not allowed to possess them in NJ as they are on the state's protected species list.

Ed

I have just read about that. That kinda sucks, I have allot of them around here apparently maybe you can start a program.wink...wink..j/k

I like them now that I have found one, I just don't believe I never seen one before. My favorites are always the bigger boys like the Mole Salamanders and such like the Marbled being my # 1.

Yup, as everyone said, it is a Longtail. Also my favorite species in PA. The green salamanders you were asking about have a very very limited range in PA. Unless you happened to be in that range finding one isn't going to happen. If I remember correctly they are not stream inhabitants either, but rather live in rock crevices.

Another one from the Valley huh? Now that being said, don't go catching my fish! J/K!

Oh yeah, you are pretty far from Green Salamander territory. They only inhabit a handful of locations in Fayette County, PA. I am more towards the slate belt in Upper Mt. Bethel, PA. Don't worry about your fish! I don't go fishing.

That area should produce some good salamanders. Woodland and stream. Your typical stream finds would be Northern Duskies, Northern Two Lineds, and Longtails. I am sure more too.

I find those others all over this area. Its just the damn Mole Salamanders I cant ever find. When I used to work at pet shops I would have so many customers come in with them asking about feeding them and I never found any. They always kept them even tho I told them not to but all I wanted was just to have finally said, I CAUGHT ONE! Oh well, I'm going out today and I'm searching hard, I need more moss anyway and I wanna find another as big as her so I can take some practice shots. I really suck at indoor picture taking. She must have been all in all about 8" and from what I gather that is big for this species.

The fish thing was just a joke, someone already got em!

I wanna dig up that site I got my info from. They are way off.

Depending on what species you are looking you'd probally have better luck in spring. Finding the spotted salamanders as they make their spring migration is very effective. Your best bet for finding marbled salamanders would be fall. (Comming soon to a town near you ). Jefferson's should be in your range too. I've never found any before but their breeding season in our range is about March to early April. Hulse states that in some localities the Jeffersons are also active in fall. Like I said, I have never seen that for myself. I have flipped spotted salamanders pretty late in the season so I would think it is still possible to produce some, just harder. I'll pm you some of my methods for finding moles. Don't want to post it here, notice alot of people collect.