Out in the wetlands, northwestern salamanders have been laying their eggs. The eggs are encased in a gelatinous mass that is roughly the size of a small grapefruit. They are attached underwater to small branches, grass, or other aquatic plants.
The eggs hatch in 2 to 9 weeks. During that time, algae will start to grow inside mass which provides them with oxygen. When the larvae hatch from eggs they swim using a tail fin and breathe with filamentous, external gills. When the larvae mature, they usually transform into salamanders that live on land. That said, Northwestern salamanders can develop into neotenic adults. This means that they stay in the water throughout their lives and retain their gills and finned tails. This phenomenon is seen more in higher altitudes.
The terrestrial adults spend much of their lives in moist places underground. They stay in and under rotten logs and often utilize the tunnels of burrowing mammals such as moles. This is probably why I don’t see them. I have only seen one out in the wetlands, and it was being eaten by a red-spotted garter snake.
There are bullfrogs out in the wetlands, and I was worried they might eat the salamanders. I was relieved to read that the larvae and terrestrial adults are mildly poisonous, so they can generally survive alongside predatory species, such as bullfrogs. Hopefully, the eggs will be safe. Perhaps they hatch out before bullfrogs are very active.
