After lunch with Mamaw, we spent our first day of spring break exploring a metropark with Uncle Ron. We found lots of goodies today.An American toad
We finally found some salamanders! In all, we found 13 red-backed salamanders. These weren't the specific type we were looking for, but any salamander is better than no salamander! In fact, in all the years I've lived here, I've never found any type of salamander in this state. These guys were much smaller than the ones we were hoping to find. Unlike most salamanders, they don't live any of their life in the water. They also don't have lungs. They breathe through their skin, which must be kept moist all the time.
We also found a snake. Reptiles are just starting to make an appearance now that the weather is warming up a little. I think this is a northern brownsnake. Northern brownsnakes "never bite" and give birth to live young. They don't get very big.
We also found lots of centipedes, millipedes, colorful bugs of various types, and a few snails. We were all dirty and sweaty by the time we were done. It was a fun afternoon and a great start to our spring break!!
3 comments:
Psst! Don't tell the kids they are actually learning in a different kind of class room. They're supposed to be on break ;-)
Looks like fun :) Caleb wants to know if you are keeping any of the animals you found?
No, we were good naturalists and returned everything to the spot where we found them. Of course, Danielle WANTED to keep something (everything), but that day we were just observing. :) (She did keep an acorn and some rocks.)
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