Herping in my front yard

[blackmatch]

Ok as my last post says I am pretty much settled into our new acreage., The dugout in the front is full of tigers and wood frogs.
view from the house

dugout from the top

and the best part

These guys are everywhere in the water and huge too. ( 11 1/4")
Also I have never seen sallys so big and old still in the aquatic stage of their lives. They have the big fin down the tail still, toes are more webbed, eyes are pointing more straight up on the head. and have almost nothing to speak of for black bars.
there is also alot of wood frogs but everyone has seen those before.

will post more pics as I get out there more.

[Ryan Wunsch]

I've never seen a salamander like that ever. Wow, that is weird, but very cool.

Tiger Salamanders are the only salamanders listed in Saskatchewan, if that is something other than a tiger, that is a huge find!!!!

So, when is the HISS housewarming bash and guided herping tour?

Thanks for posting!!

Ryan

[minnow]

You must be so happy. What a beautiful view.
Did you know if you have salamanders in your drinking water supply, they are said to keep it clean?
That is from a very old Romanian friend who knew alot about water. ;D

[blackmatch]

I have never seen tigers like this before either, I got quite the locality
here, maybe the previous owners dumped some nuclear waste in the water and this is a new mutant subspecies!!!. I'll have to study them.
Finding them in the day is almost impossible, I find them best at night with my flashlight.
As for the water, It isn't our drinking water, we have a cistern. Although the water does looks very drinkable.
We now have fish in our dugout. 30 2" rainbows, can't really fish for them, but they should help keep down the mosquitoes.

If any members of HISS would seriously like to come out they could contact me and come over. I wouldn't mind
If I was to create a specific date for a party, It would probably turn out like the group excursion to Dinosaur Provincial Park Being that most of the members that know me have a distance barrier.
But if master wants a house party than one can be arranged.

Chris

[Ryan Wunsch]

I've been doing some google searches, most of what i've found so far don't look like what you have there, but the critter in this .gif looks similar to me (but who knows what is in the .gif exactly)

Does the one your holding have the "gill things"? Have you found a lot that look like the one you are holding, or only just the 1? I don't know a lot about amphibians, have you posted that picture anywhere else yet?



This is the link to the picture that isn't working

arthursamphibians.tripod.com/amphibcol/mudpuppy.gif

[Ryan Wunsch]

I think those vertical lines on the one shown are called coastal grooves.

From this identification page, www.carcnet.ca/english/key/2a/2a.htm

O.k, I thought I was on to something after reading (C), but then I read (F), which is the same thing I think except now it says prominant coastal grooves.

I have seen some pictures of aquatic stage tiger salamanders with out much color, but I also read somewhere that they only reach 22cm max (about 9'')

Have you ever seen aquatic tiger salamanders before? I haven't in years, and don't remember what they looked like when I did.

If it is a tiger salamander, they might grow to be real brutes. Did you keep any of them?

Ryan

[blackmatch]

All the sallys i have seen/ caught have the larval stages present. Except one very small one. We have sallys at both of our parents which aren't far away, and they all looked normal, Maybe the small normal one i caught was a new land dwelling one who just stopped in.
None of them have the gills though. Im pretty sure if I kept one land it would probably loose the tail and webbed toes. I bet it would adapt as the larva do when the ponds dry up in the fall.

I havent put this picture anywhere else yet?
Is there a good amphibian forum or if you want you can put the pic on a forum.

chris

[blackmatch]

I found a site with some good pics
www.caudata.org/cc/species/Ambystoma/A_tigrinum.shtml
some of the ones on this page are tiny bit bigger than 9"
interesting that it says they also have the gills when waterbound.
I only kept one to show the guy at work then let it go.
Thats the awesome part of having the dugout, I can keep them without actually taking them out of their habitat. Any time I want to se one I just got down there at dusk.

chris

[Ryan Wunsch]

Maybe they are after the gill stage, but the rest of the body has not changed yet. Did the small land dweller you found have the typical tiger stripes? From the pictures I've seen, tiger salamanders can have a lot of variation in stripes, but I've not seen any in just one color.

Maybe they'll get stripes as they finish changing, it would be kind of cool if they just stayed the same color.

Do the tiger salamanders you normally find have such prominant coastal grooves? Those had caught my eye as odd right away, I don't remember seeing those grooves before.

The only place I thought to post that picture would be Reptiles Canada, you are a member there so I hope you post them there. If you don't, I will. I bet I could find some salamanders today...

Ryan

[Shawn(snakebite)]

:)Wow thats a big salamander.I have never come across one that big.Back in the day I used to find salamanders in their early stages and even eggs and raise them up.I must of kept and raised about 10 right from egg to adult and I know in all those ten , the gills were the last thing to dissapear.I wish I wouild of been more practical and kept a journal on their life stages and growth.It would of been something to llook back on now to see.It's a good pik and the only thing that really caught my attention was the tail being so fin like yet, but as for color and the lack of bands, that I have come across before.And also the fact that its of good size.My honest opininon is that it just didn't develope fully and never totally lost its aquatic like tail.I know of the slamanders I've kept in the past , that some definately preffered the aquatic lifestyle , never wanting to leave the water.I actually found it easier raising them in a more aquatic style even as adults.Great piks , and looks like you found a cool local to call home!! ;D

[joeysgreen]

When there is no predatory pressure to leave the water (no fish), tiger salamanders may remain in the aquatic stage. I dont' say larval stage, because they can actually become sexually mature and stay in this stage. I think this is likely more common then we think, albeit it's not documented from very many sites. They usually do grow larger when this phenomenom occurs.

Ian

[Kevin]

It looks like a normal tiger too me, but it has recently came out of the water, like how froglets will still have small tails, when they transform.

[shane]

isnt it unsafe to handle newts or salamanders or something like that

[joeysgreen]

Not so much. Don't hold them for long as they have sensitive skin. Newts can be incredibly toxic but this is only a problem if you pop them in your mouth. Wash your hands.

I wonder if these salamanders are still present in the dugout. Adding the fish might have been a death sentence.

Ian

[ciliatus48]

Has anybody on the forum ever found mud puppies?

[joeysgreen]

lol, animals with the common name, yes. Larval tiger salamanders and larval A.gracile this weekend. I'll get a post up on that soon. As for finding Necturus out East, I havn't yet.

Ian

[watersnake]

Do you think that you will ever find them Necturus in the East? I actually think that I found some baby Necturus maculosus cause in the area I found them there isn't supposed to be any salamanders. These ones had brown stripes from their eyes to their tail. If these are salamanders though, please tell me.

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[joeysgreen]

Definately a salamander. It doesn't look like the Necturus to me, but I'm not superbly versed in Eastern caudates. It could very well be the larval stage of the Eastern tiger salamander.
See www.carcnet.ca for some good information. The range maps can be a little off, but will give you a good idea as to what's in your area.

[watersnake]

I found out what type of salamander that larval one was. It is infact an Eastern Newt. I went back this year, netted one, and raised it. It morphed into a newt, and I let it go right while it was morphing into an eft.