15 March

  9 March

  26 March

  20 February

  13 March

  13 March

  1 March (see below)

  25 February

  10 March

  between 24 and 28 February

  between 3 and 19 March

  2 April

  not recorded

  not recorded

  not recorded

28 & 29 February 2000
Still no salamander egg masses or signs of salamanders in Guion Pond.

1March 2000 7:40-9:00 pm

     I have been listening to frog calls in Guion pond for my senior research, and I regularly check for spotted salamander (Ambystoma maculatum) egg masses as well. This evening for the first time I found a salamander in the water. Upon further inspection, I realized that the pond was full of adult spotted salamanders. Most were at least 25 cm head to tail. Other salamanders were walking to the pond from Guion woods.

     I sat at the edge of the pond and listened to the leaves crinkle around me from the incoming salamanders. They quietly slipped into the pond and swam away. Dina Orbison joined me, and we counted more than 25 salamanders around and below the dam. I observed the salamanders coming and going around the dam. Many individuals tumbled over the dam into the pool below to leave.

     Salamanders usually return to the same breeding site each year that they breed, and research suggests that they follow a specific path to and from their burrows. Although mechanisms for breeding site orientation are poorly understood, one study suggests that smell is important. The breeding season can last from 3 days to 2 months, but is usually restricted to two or three major breeding bouts immediately after periods of rain and milder weather.

     I did not realize it at the time, but I did observe courtship. The male circles around the female, contacts her with his snout, swings his head over her dorsum, and lifts his head under her chin. My flashlight appeared to disturb this behavior, because the salamanders quickly swam away from the light. I also saw a male salamander depositing a spermatophore. He wiggled his tail while slowly moving forward and arching his body. I saw a white spermatophore he left behind. I never saw a female pick one up with her cloacal lips.

     The females that were slowly ambling towards the pond had swollen abdomens full of eggs. According to the literature, the females mate 2-3 days prior to laying eggs. I had seen no signs of salamanders on the 28th or the 29th of February, but did see egg laying on March 1. When I first arrived, I could not find any egg masses, and by the time we left, we counted more than 19.

     One female lay about eight eggs while I was watching. She held her body steady by holding a stick with her four feet. Her cloaca touched the stick and then slowly dark eggs about 2 mm in diameter were extruded. Crayfish immediately ate many of the egg masses.

     When I left the pond around 9 pm, the salamanders were still arriving, breeding, and leaving the pond.

2 March 2000 morning
     This morning, the pond is brimming over with eggs. I quickly lost count of the number of egg masses. The egg masses were around the edge of the entire pond. There were a few egg masses that were a milky white, but most were clear. The outer jelly layer is swollen this morning. There are no signs of salamanders in or around the pond.

2 March 2000 8:30 pm
     There are no signs of salamander activity tonight. The air is much colder than last night, although the spring peepers are calling.