Garden slender salamander

[BATRACHOSEPS MAJOR]

After a long dry summer underground, slender salamanders emerge with the first winter storms to roam fields and forests. Coming out only at night and looking more like worms than amphibians, they are puzzling creatures for anyone who finds one. With diminutive legs, they rarely wander more than a dozen feet in their lives yet find a plethora of tiny invertebrates to feed on. During the day slender salamanders sleep communally in earthworm burrows or hide under stones and logs. By the end of December, females have laid strings of beadlike eggs.

NATURAL HISTORY

Surprisingly tolerant of urbanization, slender salamanders are commonly observed crossing sidewalks or hiding under garden objects. However, they are declining or absent in areas where modern subdivisions have destroyed native topsoil.

KEY CHARACTERISTICS

Six inches long and incredibly slender, with a tail twice as long as the body and scarcely noticeable legs. Coloration is tan or pinkish with fine speckling. This species lives from the San Gabriel Mountains south into Baja California.