What I do Instead of Prom

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kevin h
Posts: 99
Joined: January 18th, 2015, 3:04 pm

What I do Instead of Prom

Post by kevin h »

So I noticed a recent increase of salamanders on the page and figured I'd help the takeover with posting a recent trip I took with my best friend Ananth who is another forum member. We had planned to head to our local herpetology weekend but the incoming rain made us change our minds and make a rocket run to eastern TN instead. We had 4 main targets welleri, organi, yonah and orestes all of which I needed to see for some better photos. We started Friday night by trying something that Ananth had been advocating for a while called night herping. This is where you just walk a trail on a preferably rainy night and shine for salamanders roaming the forest floor. After this trip I have been whole heartedly converted by saying this is one of the best ways of seeing the animals in their natural habitat without disrupting them too much. No more than two hours after starting we had racked up quite the species list.

ImageWeller's Salamander by Kevin Hutcheson, on Flickr

ImageYonahlossee Salamander by Kevin Hutcheson, on Flickr

ImageBlue Ridge Spring Salamander by Kevin Hutcheson, on Flickr

With it getting late we headed in for the night and woke up the next morning to head to our next site which was home to some of my favorite habitat in the world: spruce-fir forest. Here the diversity wasn't as high because we were pretty high but nonetheless found some great species and was a solid start to our Earth Day.

ImageNorthern Pygmy Salamander by Kevin Hutcheson, on Flickr

ImageNorthern Gray-cheeked Salamander by Kevin Hutcheson, on Flickr

ImageBlue Ridge Dusky Salamander by Kevin Hutcheson, on Flickr

Having now seen all our targets we were a bit perplexed as what to do next. We ended up wasting time by hiking a trail in the rain which produced more yonahs, another spring and blue ridge red salamander which was a subspecies lifer for us. Due to the intense deluge I wasn't able to take photos so here's a scenery shot.

ImageEastern Tennessee by Kevin Hutcheson, on Flickr

We then decided in a half hearted attempt to look for marmoratus and hellbenders but had the excellent foresight of not packing a dipnet so that ended up well. By then it started to get dark and rain even more so we did some more night herping and found another spring, another red and a last yonah. After that we called it a night and made plans to stop in Eastern KY on our way back home. At our stop we added a couple of what I consider KY endemics like the cumberland plateau salamander and black mountain dusky.

ImageCumberland Plateau Salamander by Kevin Hutcheson, on Flickr

We also saw a spring and a four toed guarding eggs which was a nice way to end our very wet trip. The total count came to 21 salamanders which I thought was pretty cool for two days of herping in total. I might also post my spring break herping trip if I get the time considering AP testing is around the corner. Anyway thanks for looking.

Kevin.
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BillMcGighan
Posts: 2362
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 9:23 am
Location: Unicoi, TN

Re: What I do Instead of Prom

Post by BillMcGighan »

Excellent post Kevin.

Nice script and pics.


You may want to take another look at your "Blue Ridge Dusky Salamander " (D. orestes). Pay attention to the tail if you could cross section it.
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Jeroen Speybroeck
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Re: What I do Instead of Prom

Post by Jeroen Speybroeck »

21 salamanders in 2 days!? :shock: :thumb:
That's about as many as we have in Europe in total... :cry:
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kevin h
Posts: 99
Joined: January 18th, 2015, 3:04 pm

Re: What I do Instead of Prom

Post by kevin h »

BillMcGighan wrote:Excellent post Kevin.

Nice script and pics.


You may want to take another look at your "Blue Ridge Dusky Salamander " (D. orestes). Pay attention to the tail if you could cross section it.
Thanks Bill and I'm positive on this oretes ID. Round tail, terrestrial habitat, 6000 ft asl I'd be surprised if it was anything else.
Jeroen Speybroeck wrote:21 salamanders in 2 days!? :shock: :thumb:
That's about as many as we have in Europe in total... :cry:
Yeah that might have been a record for me but that's the southern Appalachians for you! :crazyeyes:
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BillMcGighan
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Joined: June 7th, 2010, 9:23 am
Location: Unicoi, TN

Re: What I do Instead of Prom

Post by BillMcGighan »

Round tail, terrestrial habitat, 6000 ft
You're probably right; probably my pic perception The pic made the tail look more trapezoid.

Some of our high altitude Seals don't show a knife edge and can be very light, if far from a stream.

If you look at Bethany's DB record, record 274923, you can see the roundness better.
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Rich in Reptiles
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Joined: November 30th, 2012, 7:45 am
Location: Missouri

Re: What I do Instead of Prom

Post by Rich in Reptiles »

Wow really nice finds and photos! Glad you had great success on your trip :thumb:
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kevin h
Posts: 99
Joined: January 18th, 2015, 3:04 pm

Re: What I do Instead of Prom

Post by kevin h »

Rich in Reptiles wrote:Wow really nice finds and photos! Glad you had great success on your trip :thumb:
Thanks Bethany! It looks like you and Nathan had a similar experience recently and congrats on those finds.
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