This past Sunday, as our visitors who had been with us for 2nd Christmas and New Years Day were leaving, I found a cute little salamander waiting to be rescued. Not a safe place to be, on the lane waiting to be run over. And here I am, picking up a salamander after a recent post in which I talked about not picking up strange creatures. This one was different though. I was rescuing the little salamander. And in my defense I picked it up with a cedar shingle – then it jumped onto my arm! In doing my research, I see that it is not dangerous to me to pick up a salamander but dangerous to the salamander.  They have skin that is quite porous and the oils and salts that we have on our skin can injure the salamander. Don’t pick up salamanders!

This precious little creature, perhaps a bit less than three inches long, is an Allegheny Mountain Dusky Salamander (Desmognathus ochrophaeus). When I put it down away from the lane, it immediately burrowed into a nice layer of leaves. That’s how they normally spend their winters, burrowed into soil under leaves. Hoping those leaves are keeping it warm now that there are 9 inches of snow on the ground after so many warm days. These salamanders grow to a length of four inches. They vary greatly in coloring with differing amounts of dark or light flecking. I have no idea if the salamander is male or female but I right away named it Sally. Hoping to see you again in the spring, Sally, when you’re out again hunting for yummy invertebrates for your dinner.