Froze my butt off last night (Necturus) (NOW WITH MORE PICS)

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Gyri
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Froze my butt off last night (Necturus) (NOW WITH MORE PICS)

Post by Gyri »

So last night I made the trek up to SE Ontario (or Onterio as they say up there) to look for Mudpuppies. There is a site up there on a small creek right across the street from a pub below a decommissioned dam where a congregation of Necturus meets every night all winter to forage on small fish that are stunned as they spill over the falls from above. Some years there have been as many as 180 adult Mudpuppies gathered right there almost every night. We were not quite that fortunate last night but still had a very good time. I should have some better pictures to add in the next day or so that I took with a different camera. Pics of people with Mudpuppies in the water.

It took us a while to get there, about 5 hours for me, but more for my friends traveling from New Hampshire pictured from the back seat here
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Having just moved back north from Georgia I had forgotten what exactly it was to feel cold, I was soon to be reminded. When we arrived the air temp was about -5C and dropping with snow beginning to accumulate. I've dealt with much colder but it's nights like these I nearly worship my 5mm neoprene chest waders with cleats.
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Our host, Fred (on the right), has been taking people out every Friday all winter for nearly 20 years to check out the Mudpuppies.
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In charge of the tally, Fred told us we had spotted nearly 40 Muduppies by the end of the night :)
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And into the water we go
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From the surface this was a pretty typical view in the turbulent water. It's a little hard to see but there are two Mudpuppies wedged in tightly against the back of a rock here:
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Plunge the camera into the water though and this is what you get:
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I decided to be my usual idiot self and just deal with the cold the hard way which is to say I took my jacket off, rolled up my sleeves, and spent most of my time with at least one arm submerged in the 0.1 degree water. It took about, oh, one minute to lose all feeling in my right arm, another 5 minutes for the arm to start tingling in pain, and then another 5 minutes with my arm tucked down my waders and into my crotch to warm it back up. This process was repeated 3 or 4 times until my metabolism finally realized what was going on and started pumping crazy amounts of blood into my extremities.
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Got one!
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Yes, I'm wearing a moose hat...
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We had to be careful not to hold them out of the water for more than a few seconds at a time due to the cold air temperatures...
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It was hard to get good pics underwater though, low light made focusing a pain and sediment was illuminated by the flash.
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Some of the pics turned out decent though:
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As you can see in a couple of the above pics, the Mudpuppies often tucked in behind rocks or in cracks to keep from getting launched down stream. They are strong enough to fight the current but once they get to the general area they had in mind they usually find a more sheltered spot to hang out for the night.

I wasn't the only one freezing my ass off, thankfully. Isaac and I took turns between camera and net duty
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Stephanie in her night-time cammo holding the Man-light
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That spotlight is 15,000,000 candle power. It's actually too bright most of the time if you shine it right on the Mudpuppies, they immediately flee the scene when illuminated but if you can find one willing to cooperate it does make taking photos a LOT easier.

It also made finding the Mudpuppies a lot easier, 15,000,000 candle power lights sure do brighten things up under the water :)
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And thankfully I wasn't the only one making poor choices that night and getting my arms wet either:
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We could have used nets but pulling them in and out of the water repeatedly meant the nets turned into solid blocks of ice very quickly. Both the hand and net methods have their pros and cons but both seem to work just fine for catching the salamanders:
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It's a little blurry but I swear there's a Mudpuppy in this picture:
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It doesn't look cold does it?
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Most importantly, we had a lot of fun :D
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I hope you all enjoyed, I'll put up a few more pics taken from on Isaac's camera as soon as he sends them to me,
Cheers!
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ThatFrogGuy
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Re: Froze my butt off last night (Ontario Necturus)

Post by ThatFrogGuy »

Awesome, first mudpuppy shot rocks! I can definitely sympathize with you, yesterday I spent about an hour trying to photograph A. opacum larvae underwater with snow falling around me...........
joeysgreen
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Re: Froze my butt off last night (Ontario Necturus)

Post by joeysgreen »

That is so awesome. These animals are incredible but not often seen.

Ian
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justinm
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Re: Froze my butt off last night (Ontario Necturus)

Post by justinm »

Excellent, I loved the pics from underwater.
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MaartenSFS
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Re: Froze my butt off last night (Ontario Necturus)

Post by MaartenSFS »

Jesus, that's why I moved to the subtropics. The work you have to do for one (really cool) herp. In Holland/Belgium we have some really cool water salamanders as well.
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geckoguy747
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Re: Froze my butt off last night (Ontario Necturus)

Post by geckoguy747 »

what a cool post! i'd love to experience that one day!
josh
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Gyri
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Re: Froze my butt off last night (Ontario Necturus)

Post by Gyri »

MaartenSFS wrote:Jesus, that's why I moved to the subtropics. The work you have to do for one (really cool) herp. In Holland/Belgium we have some really cool water salamanders as well.
One species, yes, but we found nearly 40 individuals that hour ;)
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MaartenSFS
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Re: Froze my butt off last night (Ontario Necturus)

Post by MaartenSFS »

Gyri wrote:
MaartenSFS wrote:Jesus, that's why I moved to the subtropics. The work you have to do for one (really cool) herp. In Holland/Belgium we have some really cool water salamanders as well.
One species, yes, but we found nearly 40 individuals that hour ;)
Yes, I have a hard time finding the same thing twice, but that also includes species I found dead and want to find alive.. :( Anyways, those are lucky puppies, as under normal circumstances they would be in cold mud.
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Jason B
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Re: Froze my butt off last night (Ontario Necturus)

Post by Jason B »

Looks like a lot of fun. Those underwater shots are excellent. Nice looking animals too.

Jb
OntarioHerper
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Re: Froze my butt off last night (Ontario Necturus)

Post by OntarioHerper »

nice find :thumb: .........im from Ontario but still have not managed to turn up a mudpuppy
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Gyri
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Re: Froze my butt off last night (Ontario Necturus)

Post by Gyri »

OntarioHerper wrote:nice find :thumb: .........im from Ontario but still have not managed to turn up a mudpuppy
Well, if you ever make your way over toward the east end of Lake Ontario this weekly event is open to the public. I wrote NW Ontario in my initial post but meant NE. PM me if you want details. Mudpuppy activity at the dam will probably persist into the first couple weeks of March. Whenever water temps push above 4C there's a significant drop off in activity.
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withalligators
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Re: Froze my butt off last night (Ontario Necturus)

Post by withalligators »

This is an awesome awesome post. Thanks for the pics and the the narrative. I'm putting this experience on my goal list.
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Gyri
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Re: Froze my butt off last night (Necturus) (NOW WITH MORE P

Post by Gyri »

I just added the pics from Isaac's camera to the original post with a little extra commentary. Here they are again:

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Josh Holbrook
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Re: Froze my butt off last night (Necturus) (NOW WITH MORE P

Post by Josh Holbrook »

Now that's herping.
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salamanderhunter
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Re: Froze my butt off last night (Necturus) (NOW WITH MORE P

Post by salamanderhunter »

awesome. I heard a local here in ohio tell of a place where they congregate like that. i had the opportunity one night to watch a mudpuppy in very shallow water foraging on minnows... I was amazed at how easily it swam among the little school...sucking them down one by one....it barely had to work for it. good post....thanks!
jimoo742
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Re: Froze my butt off last night (Necturus) (NOW WITH MORE P

Post by jimoo742 »

that's hardcore
color my impressed!
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Jon Wedow
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Re: Froze my butt off last night (Necturus) (NOW WITH MORE P

Post by Jon Wedow »

Great post! I have heard about this place bud I had no idea that this many people went there. It's good to hear the mudpuppies are still thriving.

How can you pronounce Ontario any way other than "Onterio"?
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brick911
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Re: Froze my butt off last night (Necturus) (NOW WITH MORE P

Post by brick911 »

This post is only upstaged by your hat Kiley. Very jealous.
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Fundad
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Re: Froze my butt off last night (Necturus) (NOW WITH MORE P

Post by Fundad »

to be my usual idiot self and just deal with the cold the hard way which is to say I took my jacket off, rolled up my sleeves, and spent most of my time with at least one arm submerged in the 0.1 degree water. It took about, oh, one minute to lose all feeling in my right arm, another 5 minutes for the arm to start tingling in pain, and then another 5 minutes with my arm tucked down my waders and into my crotch to warm it back up.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :beer: :thumb:

Gwad thats funny, sounds like me.. Way to brave the cold..

Fundad
Tamara D. McConnell
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Re: Froze my butt off last night (Necturus) (NOW WITH MORE P

Post by Tamara D. McConnell »

Admirably hardcore. I salute you guys.
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James K.
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Re: Froze my butt off last night (Necturus) (NOW WITH MORE P

Post by James K. »

40 in a hour? i catch maybe one every 3 years steelhead or smallmouth fishing
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Gyri
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Re: Froze my butt off last night (Necturus) (NOW WITH MORE P

Post by Gyri »

Jon Wedow wrote:How can you pronounce Ontario any way other than "Onterio"?
Ha, of course the Canadian would say that :p I guess we all say "Onterio" but you guys drag that e out like it's the most important letter in the alphabet, which it is, so I don't know what my point is exactly...
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Kevin McRae
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Re: Froze my butt off last night (Necturus) (NOW WITH MORE P

Post by Kevin McRae »

Super cool post! I'm from Manitoba and have yet to find a mudpuppy either. Hopefully catch one ice fishing this winter.

As a Canadian myself I say Ontario like "Ont-ar-io" As do any other Canadian I've talked to. haha.
If there is open water it's not that cold. :P Hands in the water though, that's cold.
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Gyri
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Re: Froze my butt off last night (Necturus) (NOW WITH MORE P

Post by Gyri »

Ha, well I can't comment on the western canadian accent until I go there which will probably when I finally have the chance to check out your famous gartersnake dens in a year :)
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Todd McKinney
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Re: Froze my butt off last night (Necturus) (NOW WITH MORE P

Post by Todd McKinney »

That first underwater shot is awesome!
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walk-about
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Re: Froze my butt off last night (Necturus) (NOW WITH MORE P

Post by walk-about »

NOW THAT IS A FLASHLIGHT!! Awesome post!

RocK ON!

Dave
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