I had an opportunity yesterday to view one of the great natural phenomena in northeast Ohio - the spring salamander migration! On warm, rainy early spring evenings, these salamanders leave their forest haunts & scurry up to a mile away to deposit eggs in ancestral vernal pools. Last evening, at Cleveland Metroparks Brecksville Reservation, volunteers & lots of curious bystanders paid witness to 100 Spotted/Jefferson's Salamanders crossing a short stretch of closed road. The Metroparks staff carefully monitors conditions surrounding the movements & closes the road when migration seems imminent.
There were several of these beastly amphibians crossing Valley Parkway at all times, while I did my best over-sized salamander impression - squirming around on a wet belly, trying to see eye-to-eye with the beautiful creatures