Cute Garden Resident

[sudsmaster]

This little cutie actually lives in the greenery in front of the house... I've seen others just like it around the side of the house, but never in the back garden. It's about three or four inches long, much larger than the usual red/black salamander. No idea what it eats, although once I did see one of the small red ones with what looked like part of an earthworm in its mouth.

I give these little gems wide berth when patrolling for slugs and snails. I'd like to rip out the plant it's setting on, but I worry that I might disturb its resting place.

It's doing its best to hide from the camera; I'll try again later to get a better pic when it's more relaxed and more visible.

 

[tolivac]

Surprized he didn't eat the fat slug on the leaf behind him!The slugs in my area are brownish-black!No salemanders here-or I haven't seen them.They do like moist areas-and its moist here!I did see a small pretty green and yellow snakes in my plants a few times-left him alone-thought they were to pretty to kill.also the pretty green snake may eat the UGLY bugs here!He is a cute little salemander!

 

[sudsmaster]

This is probably a arboreal salamander. See link. Diet of most of these types of salamanders appears to be various invertebrates as well as smaller slender salamanders. So small slugs would certainly be part of their diet. Don't know about the "painful" bite part of the description, as I try not to touch them because it would irritate their skin. Usually they just freeze or try to hide when they see me or sense I'm around.

http://www.californiaherps.com/salamanders/pages/a.lugubris.html#description

 

[washertalk]

Wow, good picture. I hope he is eating the things you don't want in your garden. He almost looks albino. But maybe that is the flash from the camera.
They're to cute to have a deadly bite.

I want to get a talking Geico Gecko. That way I would have a pet and it could advise me on my insurance needs and maybe talk about other things too.

 

[sudsmaster]

I had a pet gecko in high school. Then I went on a camping trip and a younger sibling opened up the cage and it scampered out the bedroom window, never to be seen again :-(. Of course, she denied it for decades, but I knew it was her.

I've seen darker versions of this particualar salamander in this location as well. The color varies quite a bit. It's not an albino because the eyes are black (I think). And there is some coloration, as you say, it's somewhat bleached out by the flash.

While I'm sure the critter does eat some small slugs etc., it's not doing enough of that ;-). I am always also finding new large snails that have trekked into my gardens overnight. It's a constant battle.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Precious salamander. I brought a bromeliad in one fall and a couple of days later, I thought the battery in the smoke alarm started making that chirping noise. I was moving the bromeliad and a small frog jumped out of the water cup, landing with a loud splat on the floor. I caught him under a jar, cleaned out an aquarium moved him in and went to the pet shop for crickets. I think he had been ready to settle in for winter and the warmth of the house woke him up and he started chirping. After he ate well, I took him down to a creek so he could hibernate in the mud. I live far from any creek or stream, so the little guy had really traveled to get all the way to my house and up on the deck. If frogs were big, they would be as dangerous as komodo dragons, because they are fearless when going after something to eat.

 

[goprog]

Now that's a horror movie I haven't seen - giant frogs
attacking Japan.

 

[sudsmaster]

Most any reptile or amphibian is rather focused on catching and eating food. It's the old "reptile brain" at work. Not much inhibition or political correctness - just survival instinct. Not that they can't learn or don't shy away from perceived threats.