Syracuse.com - Baltimore Woods hosts kids program to observe and rescue salamanders

[HuntingNY-News]

"When it's both rainy and warm, there's a better chance that the salamanders will come out of their holes in droves."

Tully —It happens every spring this time of year on warm, rainy nights. A country road in Tully becomes filled with salamanders, frogs and other amphibians as they migrate from a wooded hillside to their watery breeding grounds.

Baltimore Woods Nature Center's Amphibian Alert excursion to observe this migration, which happened Monday, has become one of the center's most popular nature programs.

Baltimore Woods Camp Director Tom Meier and Environmental Educator Becky Lynch led this year's nature tour at Labrador Hollow Unique Area off of Route 91 in Tully. Twenty five 25 people attended. Many had been to this event in previous years.

The tour consisted of walking along the bank of Labrador Pond for about a mile in the dark, shining flashlights on the asphalt and looking out for amphibians waddling or jumping across the road to reach the other side.

"I was hoping it would rain for this," Meier said at the start of the tour. "When it's both rainy and warm, there's a better chance that the salamanders will come out of their holes in droves."

Even though the rain never came, it was still a decent amphibian turnout, Lynch said.

About 50 animals were spotted along the road, ranging from tiny spring peeper frogs to giant yellow spotted salamanders to slimy newts. "We've seen this many for a couple years now," Lynch said. "It's about average...I'm still hoping we'll get a perfect night one of these years."

The amphibians are driven out of hibernation under ground on warm, wet nights after the spring equinox, Lynch said.

The spring peepers were out as well. Tom Meier  

On one side of the road are vernal pools, or small ponds that originate from a high water table, rather than an input from a stream or lake. The amphibians breed in these pools, and must cross the road to reach them in the spring..

One of the best parts for the kids is "rescuing" the salamanders -- specifically carrying them across the road so they don't get hit by cars, Lynch said.

Eight-year-old Bodie Centore of Syracuse came equipped with a butterfly net and a bright flashlight.

"You can find a lot of salamanders here on the road," said Centore, who went on the Amphibian Alert excursion last year. "When you go to the [vernal pools] at the end of the road, sometimes you can't see any animals, but you can hear them all making noise."

Andrew Millard, 10, of Syracuse said it's sad to see dead salamanders that didn't have time to get out of the way of a passing car.

"It's really gross to see them run over," Millard said. "So we pick them up now with nets and gloves so they can get across."

Lynch said she enjoys hosting events for kids at Baltimore Woods.

"I love introducing them to the awesomeness of nature," Lynch said. "To see the look on their faces when they discover new things is amazing and really rewarding."

Baltimore Woods hosts many nature events throughout the year that are all listed on the calendar on their website. Contact Baltimore Woods at 673-1350.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog