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

close up of the smaller one with the cut on the tail

[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

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

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!!!