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Project Noah Nature School
Ambystoma opacum
Beautiful, stocky, and boldly banded with bright silvery bands on the back and stubby tail. These voracious predators consume large amounts of food as they eat worms, insects, slugs, and snails. They are preyed upon by various woodland predators, but poison glands located on their tails provide some degree of protection.
I spotted two of these salamanders (under different logs)...The first one (photos 1-3) was under a log with two red backed salamanders and a slug. The red backed salamanders were crawling all over the marbled salamander, which looked irritated but surprisingly tolerant of this behavior. The second marbled salamander (photo 4) was under a log with a spring peeper that also had no respect for personal space. However, this marbled salamander also showed restraint and no aggression towards the frog. The rotting logs were located in a dry, mixed forest; but, with small ponds and a bog nearby.
Unlike most other mole salamanders, this species doesn't breed in water. Instead, they only breed in dried up ponds and ditches. Then, females lay eggs under leaves. The eggs hatch once the ponds/ditches refill.
Spotted on Oct 21, 2017
Submitted on Oct 21, 2017
2 Comments
Thanks!
Ahhh! Their faces are just precious. Wonderful spotting(s)!