Thanks everyone for the responses! I will leave them alone and not
disturb the balance of nature. I'll just be sure to wear gloves from
now on while working in the yard :-)

On Fri, 08 Apr 2005 14:37:20 -0400, wrote:

I recently came across a nest of what I think are salamanders while
weeding a flower bed. They are red with light black spots on their
backs, approximately 5 - 7" long, the head is around 3/4", and they
move extremely fast, About 10 of the little critters came running out
when I uncovered them, and I went running the other direction. I
thought they were snakes at first, but I saw another one later and
noticed that it has front feet. I didn't see any rear feet, but I
might not have seen them because it was moving so fast. I looked up
salamanders and it could possibly be a red salamander or a mud
salamander. My concern is that each female can lay between 70 and 200
eggs and they live for years. I'm sure they are harmless, but they
are very creepy and I don't want them taking over my yard. I have
lived in the area for 19 years and have never seen these before. Has
anyone seen these and do you have any ideas on how to get rid of them?

Thanks,
Diane