Farm Visitor

This morning at 6:15 I went out to clean the barns and let the sheep, chickens, and duck out when I had a colorful surprise. In Francesca the duck's swimming pool was a 6 inch spotted salamander peacefully swimming. I went to dump the pool to clean out yesterday's rain and mud and there he was. Of course I looked it up on the Internet to find out what it was. It is just what it looks like a "Yellow Spotted Salamander". Apparently they are common to the Northeast, but this was my first encounter with one. I learned they can live up to 32 years. Amazing! They spend most of their time underground but come out after rainy weather. Well, we certainly have had that. I also learned that in the spring hundreds, sometimes thousands, migrate to mating ponds- that they return to each year. Again, amazing! These creatures hibernate underground in the winter and emerge again in March. I guess my reward for getting up early and doing farm chores was seeing this beautiful amphibian.

 

 

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