California Giant Salamander

[Bay_area]

went out in the rain the other night lookingfor some giants. I saw countless newts & tree frogs. After an hour of looking, I was ready to call it quits. I then spotted my target species crossing the road. The problem was a car was coming on the side it was on. I jumped out in front of the car & waved my spot light back & forth til the car stopped. I scooped up the salamander & got back into my car. Within 5 minutes, I spotted a smaller one & scooped it up with out incident. The smaller one has a big cut on the base of its tail, I hope it heals up. I was going to keep one & the other one is going to my friend Mike that keeps California herps in his classroom. Thanks for looking, Jerry
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c306/norcalsnakemaster/IMG_1798.jpg
close up of the smaller one with the cut on the tail
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c306/norcalsnakemaster/IMG_1799.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c306/norcalsnakemaster/IMG_1800.jpg

[Lori P]

Wow. They are really neat. What do they eat??

[Lori P]

And Jerry-- try to NOT jump out in front of oncoming traffic, ok?? Can you see your grave stone: "T'was his love for the salamander that did him in".... LOL

[Bay_area]

And Jerry-- try to NOT jump out in front of oncoming traffic, ok?? Can you see your grave stone: "T'was his love for the salamander that did him in".... LOL
ROTFL! Gotta do what ya gotta do sometimes:p

They eat practically anything that moves. crickets, nightcrawlers, pinkie mice are things that I have fed them in the past. Mike has one in a tank that had small fish in it & he said the fish disappeared:rolleyes:

BTW, the big one is just over 8" long, but they have been seen over a foot long where I was looking for them.

[Lori P]

Wow-- that's a big boy!! He looks really well fed too!

[adamanteus]

Good pictures, Jerry. I've always found thar amphibians in general heal prety quick.

[tikichick]

Wow, those are awesome! You're brave!!

[anji1971]

What cool critters!! I had a little blue-spotted salamander when I was a kid. I found it up north. Wish I could find another someday........I'd forgotten just how neat looking they are!!
Glad you were able to get to him before he got smooshed by the car-- and that you didn't get smooshed yourself!!!!;)

[Serpentine99]

ah i love catching salamanders and keeping them for small periods of time, mostly because i could never get any to eat. its too cold over on this end of the US to really find any, but i am on a certain species hunt. The Jeffersons Salamander(Ambystoma jeffersonianum), although im pretty sure the law says im not allowed to keep it, i just want to photograph it and know that i caught one.

[Charlet_2007]

mini slimy dinosaur is what it looks like lol.. soo cute!!!:D:D

[Loren]

Very cool Jerry- Before I decided to narrow down to just reptiles(and spiders/scorpions/centipedes), those were near the top of my list.
And Lori, like Jerry said- gotta do what you gota do. I've done some crazy things to find herps myself- and it was (often) worth it.:)

[drache]

cool critters
are they really slimy, or do they only look that way?

[Lori P]

And Lori, like Jerry said- gotta do what you gota do. I've done some crazy things to find herps myself- and it was (often) worth it.:)

Of course. Well.... can we have your flattened corpses to feed to our snakes one day?? :D:D:D

[Snaky]

Very nice catches!:)

[Bay_area]

cool critters
are they really slimy, or do they only look that way?
Yes, they are slimy:D

[EdgyExoticReptiles]

where do you find these guys?? i have plenty of time and i leave pretty close to you and i love herping

[Bay_area]

where do you find these guys?? i have plenty of time and i leave pretty close to you and i love herping
Marin & Sonoma counties when it is raining, they come out;)

[EdgyExoticReptiles]

and i should just cruise around looking under stuff?

Marin & Sonoma counties when it is raining, they come out;)

[Bay_area]

and i should just cruise around looking under stuff?
You will need to find out where they have sightings of them. ;) That takes a little investigation & google earth helps by locating ponds that they use for breeding. During heavy night rains, they will cross the roads. Just be careful not to get ran over by passing cars. Where @ in the bay area do you live?

[EdgyExoticReptiles]

san jose but i can get my dad to drive me places :)

[Bay_area]

san jose but i can get my dad to drive me places :)

Pescadero creek road would be the closest plase to look for you on the next rain. You must have a good Father that will take you out herping:cool:

[drache]

oh oh
I want to come to pescadero creek
I can smell it right now
there was whole ramble after this . . .
suffice it to say that I'm feeling a little stab of missing the bay area and it's special places