Last weekend we had some beautiful early April weather here in Northern Virginia. After our brutal winter – we deserved it! We headed out to Hemlock Overlook Regional Park to look for some signs of herpetological spring. And we found it!
Our first find was one of the most common vertebrate creatures in the eastern United States: the red-backed salamander.
Red backed salamanders come in three different colors: red backed, yellow backed and black or “lead” backed.
Red backed salamanders are different from many other amphibians. They are members of the lungless group of salamanders – so they get all their oxygen absorbed into their blood stream through their slimy skin. They also lay their eggs on land and the the larvae go through metamorphosis in the egg. So, red backed salamanders never have to leave the land to lay eggs in the water the way most amphibians do.
Toads, on the other hand, must return to the water each year to mate and lay eggs. At Hemlock, the woods were alive with the pleasant music of male toads singing to attract females.
The male will “hug” the female (the science word for this toad hug is amplexus), and the female will lay hundreds of eggs encased in gelatinous goo into the water.
In a few weeks, the temporary pools in our area will be filled with millions of black tadpoles that will quickly grow tiny legs and metamorphose into tiny toadlets. To attract insect and slug eating toads into your garden, consider adding a toad home
We did not find any snakes on our trip at Hemlock, but the next day, one of Caroline’s neighbors called her to come and get a visitor out of her bathroom.
Yep, I would definitely say that herpetological spring has sprung!
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