SoFo Museum Tracks Down Salamanders [PHOTOS]

A group of enthusiastic Salamander watchers gathered at the on Saturday night, flashlights in hand, for the annual foray into the nighttime woods of Bridgehampton to catch a glimpse of one of our local amphibians, the spotted salamander, on its breeding grounds.

Andy Sabin, the president of SoFo’s board of directors, also known as “Salamander Commander,” was the group’s leader, assisted by SoFo’s Executive Director Frank Quevedo and Heather Abrams, a SoFo nature educator. Sabin, an experienced herpetologist, who has spent years studying our local salamanders, informed the 25 eager participants, children and adults, that they were about to witness something people rarely see ─ an amazing natural occurrence ─ the spring breeding ritual of the spotted salamander.

The spotted salamander is one of the East End’s four local “mole” salamanders. They are called mole salamanders because of their habit of burrowing under leaf litter and logs. The salamanders generally stay in their moist, forested habitats, hunting small invertebrates, and return to bodies of water only to breed in the late winter or early spring.

After a brief introduction to the spotted’s life history — this amphibian goes from eggs, to water-living larvae (looking somewhat like frog tadpoles) to air breathing, terrestrial adults — the group drove to a close-by vernal pond, walked deep into the woods and down a steep hill, covered with winter’s fallen leaves. Sabin, Quevedo and Abrams with their huge flashlights went into the water to search for the salamanders, while the salamander watchers circled the pond, their flickering flashlight beams looking like giant fireflies in the dark, night woods. With a cry of “Hooray, here they are!” Sabin, Quevedo and Abrams brought out 10 Spotted Salamanders for the group to see. There were “Oohs” and “Aahs” as participants observed these animals up-close, with their delicate salamander skins, shiny black bodies and brilliant yellow spots.

SoFo schedules salamander walks each year, as well as many other interesting and informative nature activities throughout the year. You can find their calendar of events by going to the South Fork Natural History Museum website: www.sofo.org.