My mother-in-law and I were walking around the yard the other day looking at my plants when I exclaimed "It's a newt!". There he was poking around in the back yard under my Royal Fern. She had never seen one of these tiny critters. This one was about 3 inches long and was quite camera shy. The Red Spotted Newt goes through three developmental stages with each having a different physical form. My little fellow is a terrestrial juvenile eft, the intermediate stage between aquatic larval and aquatic adult. These tiny salamanders are really quite interesting. The University of Georgias Savannah River Biology Laboratory has some information on their site.
I remember these, too, but they are different than the Red Dog, right. The Red Dog is a true salamander, deeper red with solid black spots -- is my memory true?
ReplyDeleteThis one is in the same genus, therefore also a true salamander. The Red Salamander, what is locally called a "Red Dog" is an orangy red with tiny black spots. And if your memory serves you well, salamanders DO bite, contrary to what we/you were told. And, if my memory serves me correctly, when they bite they can also FLY! :D
ReplyDeleteHi Brenda, I just wanted to say thank you - for your insightful message about story. What a wonderful way of looking at the world and its history.
ReplyDelete