MARBLED SALAMANDER LESSON

I’ve always been fascinated by caves.  I like to imagine I’m among the first explorers to see what lies within.  This is probably a direct result of a “deprived childhood” without cable TV in which I was forced to entertain myself.  Because of this, I was usually first to volunteer to go caving with fellow biologists.  On one particularly interesting trip, I got invited to shimmy down a hole in the ground, enjoy a five-foot blind drop, and enter a cave room.  This was before I watched the movie “Joe Dirt” and learned such important phrases as “it puts the lotion on the skin”. 

The cave wasn’t that awesome.  But the exit was.  Just outside of the cave was a lovely silver and black salamander tucked under the moist leave litter.  I of course picked it up and within moments, my hands became dry and itchy.  It turns out that the marbled salamander (Ambystoma opacum) has poison glands it the tail to help deter predators.  Lesson learned.