If you explore one of Nova Scotia’s many wooded areas on a rainy night in April and see a group of people with flashlights and high-visibility equipment on the side of the road, there’s a good chance they’ll be filming a passing salamander.
Yellow-spotted salamanders are the largest species of salamander in the province. They spend most of their lives underground, but come to the surface for about two weeks each spring to reproduce.
It is easy to predict where these salamanders will go to reach their breeding grounds – they live about 30 years and use the same paths throughout their lives.
But intersections can be risky, so they need a little help.
“You can only imagine how much things have changed in 30 years, especially in urban areas,” said Clarence Stevens, an environmental consultant involved in several local and provincial volunteer conservation efforts.
“Many of these salamanders have to cross paths or even several paths to reach their breeding grounds now. As a result, many of them have eventually been run over.”
Stevens said it’s important to make sure your hands are clean and free of any products before you touch a salamander. (Judy Keating / Facebook)
Here comes Stevens and his group of volunteers.
They go out at night with perfect conditions and look for large groups of salamanders near the road. Then they help them cross.
“During the warm rainy nights, we are able to help 40 or 50 or over 100 of them… because they are making a mass movement at that time,” Stevens said.
Stevens and other nature enthusiasts have been watching the salamander for years. But he partnered with Halifax Field Naturalists last year to encourage people from across the province to go out on their own to help with the transition.
Laura Eamon is one of the volunteers who started working with the group last year. She had never seen a salamander before hearing about Stevens’ campaign, but she was addicted after the first night.
Eamon said she had never seen a salamander before volunteering for the group. (Submitted by Laura Eamon)
“It’s just something you can do, it’s a few hours, it’s instant, and you can really see the impact of improving the habitat,” Eamon said.
She said her most rewarding experience was digging ditches on the side of a path to allow salamanders a safe place to lay their eggs.
The next day, the ditch was lined with hundreds of eggs.
“So the amphibians were able to see the new place and lay their eggs there,” Eamon said. “And it didn’t exist before we went out. So it was just the most amazing feeling.”
Species in “rapid decline”
Yellow-spotted salamanders are not classified as endangered or threatened, but Stevens said their numbers are in “rapid decline” like many other amphibian species.
“Amphibians are very sensitive to changes in the environment,” he said.
“So every time a body of water gets polluted or you get a drain from the road or something, and even a change in temperature kills them.
He said the survival rate of the species’ eggs was also low. The spotted salamander lays eggs in water, but the place must meet certain conditions.
Salamander eggs with yellow spots are shown in a pool of water. (Angela Myers / Facebook)
“They can’t use large enough pools, lakes or ponds to have fish in them because the fish swallow their eggs like crazy,” Stevens said. This means that they often lay eggs in puddles, which is not ideal.
Therefore, ATVs pose a major risk to salamander populations, Eamon said.
“You know, the funniest part of being on an ATV is going through puddles, but these puddles are perfect pools for amphibians to lay their eggs.”
She said the volunteers were trying to find eggs on the trails and move them aside to give them a better chance of reaching maturity.
When salamanders disappeared from an area, Stevens said it had a big impact.
“They play such an important role in our environment that when they disappear from water basins, these water basins become more and more infested with insects. And it has a whole cascading effect.”
What to do if you notice one
Anyone who goes for a rainy April walk can help a salamander if they come across one. Stevens said there are some simple tips for future saviors.
If you move them off the road, “take them in the direction they are facing, even if you don’t see water, because they may leave the water because they have already laid their eggs and are returning to the forest.”
The group says it has rescued all species of amphibians in the province. A salamander with a red back is shown. (Hunter Stevens / Facebook)
Stevens said clean hands are a must for handling salamanders.
Eamon said he was taking his stepdaughters with him to look for amphibians. She suggested that anyone who was interested learn how.
“Clarence is a connoisseur of salamanders and is able to … look at maps of your community with you and find places that could be potential amphibian hotspots,” she said.
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