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

In article ,
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

This is only a guess, but try to find out what they like to eat and
eliminate it. I've heard this works for voles & moles, i.e. poison the
white grubs and the critters move to someone elses's yard!

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

You're very lucky to have them. They will not take over your yard.

On 2005-04-08, 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

My daughter had been doing some conservation studies on protecting
salamanders. They went out one night to help them across the road
somewhere in Chapel Hill.

I will try to get you some info on them. They were carrying the
confused ones across the road so they can't be too dangerous.

I say let them be, they will probably migrate away soon.

--
Wes Dukes (wdukes.pobox@com) Swap the . and the @ to email me please.

is a garbage address.

On 2005-04-08, E Gregory wrote:
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

You're very lucky to have them. They will not take over your yard.

Here is one bit of info:


Question - We seem to have many Salamanders around our Greenhouses
and have just discovered they lay eggs. Never thought much about it
before but after reading the use of these eggs for children to watch the
development of life, I became curious as to "what are benefits to the
balance of nature do Salamanders provide?" Should we encourage them
around the Greenhouses or will they become a pest?
-----------------------------------------------------
Most salamanders lay eggs in water.
They eat earth worms, possibly insect grubs, etc. and are eaten by a
variety
of larger birds and other animals. While this is an important part of
the
balance of nature they are usually of little concern one way or the
other to
the human economy - in other words they won't be pests, but there's
probably
no real "practical" benefit to encouraging them. They are a fascinating
and
wonderful part of nature - enjoy observing them.
J. Elliott


--
Wes Dukes (wdukes.pobox@com) Swap the . and the @ to email me please.

is a garbage address.

On Fri, 08 Apr 2005 20:24:59 GMT, wrote:
.. Has
anyone seen these and do you have any ideas on how to get rid of them?

Thanks,
Diane

I just have the anolises (bright green) and the blue tailed skinks. I
just love them! I remember orange ones with black spots in wooded
streams in NYS, but they were water dwellers. I haven't seen the type
you describe.
I hope you don't harm them. They are marvelous, harmless critters.
Kira

A lot of you aren't going to want to hear this, but they also make a
fantastic fish bait. I've seen them in bait shops and priced at over $2.00
each when you can find them, so they must be good.

Dwayne

wrote in message
news
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

wrote in message
news
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

Diane, I wish I had your problem. They will eat the nasty insects that
attack your garden and the mosquito's. It is a blessing in disguise.

If you really nervous about them, invite some kids over, they would love
to catch them and take them into their yards. If I were able, I would love
to come get them myself. I love them and tend to catch them and put them
in my yard to keep them safe.

Jo

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

Good for you, Diane.

The presence of salamanders is a very good indication of the general
health of your yard environment. When pollution rises, including
overuse of garden chemicals, some of the animals most affected are the
amphibians--frogs and salamanders in particular. Pollution has caused
drastic reductions and extinction of many amphibian species around the
world--they're like an alarm bell.
When I was a kid in Michigan, you'd find blue-spotted and red-backed
salamanders under practically any old log you turned over. If you were
really lucky, maybe one of the larger yellow-spotted ones! I like them
so much that I've got a plastic replica of one (very realistic!) that
lives on my tiled bathroom floor. It never fails to startle guests.
:^)

Now they're pretty hard to find in many places--at least I'm not
finding them very often in my mother's yard in Michigan. I was
thrilled to find one the other day under a log on the SAS campus--I
rolled a log over just to see what might be there. There was a large
blue-spotted one there--slowed down considerably because it was a cool
day. I picked it up so that I could roll the log back in place, then
put the salamander alongside so that it could quickly burrow back in
under the log again--which it did. They're beautiful, and harmless.

Cheers
Sue

On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 10:09:03 -0400, wrote:

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

Why would you want to 'eliminate' the critters. For all I know they don't
eat plants. they eat bugs and things and I wish I had them in my yard.



wrote in message
news
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