March 26, 1987 - Salamander SeasonSalamander
Season
By PAULSTOUTENBURGH
This past weekend surely brought
us typical March weather. First it
rained, then it snowed, and then the
sun came out. All of this was mixed
with the high winds of March that
never seem to stop blowing.
It's during these wet nights in
March that I think about going
salamandering. It's an event to see
Focus on
Nature
and experience. It's the time when
the salamander ventures forth from
its long winter sleep to return to its
native pond to mate and lay its eggs.
This annual ritual has been going on
here on Long Island since the early
days when the island was created by
the great glaciers that moved out of
the north.
Salamanders are little known be-
cause they're nocturnal and most of
their activities are under forest de-
bris -- except for this short period of
mating where they must return to
their native ponds. Salamanders,
like most of God's creatures, are hav-
ing a difficult time with man's con-
tinual invasion of their territory.
Some might object to my referring to
it as "their territory," but if we look
at the whole picture they deserve a
place to live as well as we do.
Most of wildlife can manage quite
well if we leave habitat for them to
live in. Case in point: Just this
weekend I was shown a vernal pond
here on the East End that the en-
dangered tiger salamander breeds in.
This pond is off the road in the woods
but surrounded by development.
Now roads ar e be in g P ut
to right up
to the pond. Woodland ponds for the
most part have clear water because
there is no direct runoff into them.
They consist more of groundwater or
trapped water above a silt or clay
layer, and it is in these ponds that
the salamanders seek to lay their
eggs.
Road RunoffRuins Habitat
All goes well until man runs his
road runoff into these woodland
ponds. Now they become clouded and
polluted, for the runoff not only car-
The Suffolk Times /March 26, 1987 /Page I IA
Photo by Paul Soutenburgh
SPOTTED SALAMANDER--All salamanders live wet areas throughout our town. During March, they
off insects of all sorts and are found in a few selected move into ponds to mate and lay their eggs.
ries muddy water but the fertilizers
and pesticides from lawns that line
the new roadsides. What was once a
pristine vernal pond now becomes
stagnant by algae growth that breeds
in the rich fertilized waters. It's now
that we find people complaining
about mosquitoes breeding in these
ponds where we have eliminated the
young salamanders that would have
eaten the mosquito larvae. What we
have done once again is upset na-
ture's balance.
In good planning, a large natural
buffer would be left around these
ponds and no road runoff would be
allowed to enter at all. Drainage ba-
sins would have captured the road
runoff instead of going into the
ponds. With good planning, the natu-
ral cycle of plants and animals would
flourish and man could still live in
his development. I am afraid we
overstress our land in too many in-
stances and in the long run it back-
fires on us.
The more we see how the natural
world is treated without respect and
understandin g, the more we see
problems being created for those who
follow us. The only way we can over-
come this misuse of our environment
is through education. When they un-
derstand the problem and how it can
be avoided by correct planning, most
people don't mind leaving a buffer
area, whether it be for a salamander
pond, or wetlands for fish and
wildlife, or trees and underbrush for
nesting birds and animals. These and
many more examples show how we
can live in today's world without de-
stroying it.
Main Road
Southold, N.Y
765 -9844
We will be closing shortly for our
S pring Cleaning,
For a limited time -
Special drink prices and lunch specials
Salamander Winters Over
There are always those rare people
who have extra feelings for the crea-
tures on this earth. One such man
called me the beginning of the
winter with a strange story. He had
found this black- and - yellow lizard -
like creature in the sump of his cel-
lar. With a little explanation, it-
proved to be a spotted salamander
that had wandered into his cellar as
cold weather approached. The sala-
mander's problem was that it was
used to wet areas such as swamps
and ponds and the only place availa-
ble with those conditions was in the
gentlemen's sump. What to do? I
suggested leaving it there through
the winter and then on a nice day in
March letting it go in one of the few
remaining wet areas.
Each time I saw the gentleman or
spoke with him through the winter
he'd give me a report on how his spot-
ted salamander was doing and just a
week or so ago he called to say all
was well and he was about to release
his winter visitor. Sensitive and un-
derstanding people such as this will
make our world a better place for
man and wildlife alike.
Our world was once pristine. Let's
not forget the moral of the story of
the goose that laid the golden eggs
and destroy our world for selfish
reasonr;.
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