Ever Seen A Spotted Salamander?

Tonight at the Community Arts Center at 7 p.m., the Friends of the East Brunswick Environmental Commission and the East Brunswick Library are hosting a free talk with the acclaimed nature writer, Dave Wheeler. Dave is the author of Wild New Jersey - Nature Adventures in the Garden State and the founder of the amazing nature-oriented website, Wild New Jersey. Dave will also have his book available and will be signing copies. We also have a big adult salamander for everyone to see tonight.

2012 Salamander Migration Update #1

For the past 8 years, the Friends and the Environmental Commission have been protecting what we believe is one of the last remaining and the largest populations of spotted salamanders in East Brunswick. (We have since discovered two other small populations that actually may have been fed by an expansion of the ones we are protecting). Our work has received numerous awards and recognition and a vast amount of media coverage including in the New York Times and even on a radio station in Australia! Since the annual migration is highly dependent on weather and the timing can vary significantly from year to year, we post regular updates on the Friends website with our thoughts and predictions. Normally we start these sometime in late February or early March, but this is the first of 2012 owing to the very unusual and mild winter we are having this year. We encourage everyone interested in the salamander migration to follow the updates. It is a great way to understand the vagaries of nature and also to see the thought process that goes into field biology. We often close the road at a moments notice and it is the best way to know what we expect to happen and if the road will be closed or not. Joining the Friends is the best way to get up to the minute information on road closing. It is FREE and only takes a minute on the website to join www.freewebs.com/friendsebec/jointhefriends.htm.      

On rainy nights in March and April we close Beekman Road so that the spotted salamanders (and frogs) can safely cross to the vernal pools they breed in. Unfortunately, Beekman Road divides their habitat and for many of the individuals in the population they must cross the road to get to the vernal pools. Prior to the road closings, there was literally a huge slaughter of salamanders and frogs by cars unknowingly crushing them. If you have never come out on a rainy raw late winter or early spring night to see the salamanders cross, you simply must try to get there. Seeing your first spotted salamander cross the road is just unforgettable.   

As everyone knows, this winter has been incredibly mild. Yesterday I was poking around the vernal pools and to my incredible surprise found a number of spotted salamanders. This is at least a month earlier that I can ever recall and seems very consistent with the unusual winter we have been having. We have a big adult salamander for everyone to see tonight. If you have never had an opportunity to see one of these beautiful black salamanders with yellow spots, tonight is your chance! The one we have is about 5 inches long. Spotted salamanders can live up to 30 years. The salamander will be returned to the wild tonight after the talk. 

I'm not exactly sure what finding the salamanders yesterday means in terms of the annual migration to the vernal pools this year. But I suspect if the mild weather continues we are looking at an early migration event or at least a punctuated one with an early movement of some individuals. We will post these updates regularly on the Friends website at www.friendsebec.com/salamandercrossing.htm. The website also has all kinds of cool information about the vernal pools and the salamander migrations.