Salamander visits BHS

It may come as a surprise to us, spending so much time in our climate-conditioned buildings, but the land around BHS is habitat!  Salamanders will climb up hill in order to navigate to their next place, including their wintering areas.  This Spotted Salamander (about 5 1/2" long) appears to have been making tracks from the wetlands beyond the Junior parking lot over to the wetlands next to the Chestnut Hill playground.  It was found in the corridor outside the gym.

Mr. Marchewka decided that he really isn't a fan of salamanders!

The little guy spent a day in Ms.Levy's classroom recovering, from the exertion of getting under the door into the school and from all of the dust and cement dust that stuck to its' sensitive skin.  It left us with it's molted skin.  Take a good look ... the feet look like gloves, five toes on the front, four on the back.

Needless to say, the little guy took off when we released it the next afternoon!!

Poor little guy ... look at all that dust.  And is our Athletic Director scooting away from it?

Hey, there, handsome!

How would that be for us ... when our skin got itchy, we just molted the whole thing?!
(Notice the duckweed inside the lower foot ... the whole skin is inside out!)