Herpin'

A time honored tradition in our home that started back in our college days, driving the roads on the first warm wet spring night to look for amphibious creatures who are out and about looking for love. Back in the day we would use dip nets at ponds and rolled over logs and went to great lengths to catch the rare and unusual. Now with the prospect of late nights and muddy kids we stick mostly to just driving the roads and stopping to pick up whatever is crawling across. Tonight was a great night. In under 20 minutes we collected 8 specimens with 3 different species. We load them up in containers and take them back home to view in good lighting and photograph. Then we turn them loose in our woods to continue their mating process. Here's our collection of spotted salamanders, 4 total.

These are my favorites.
Spotted Salamander
Scientific Name: Ambystoma maculatum

Our daughter likes the salamanders the best.

Our son prefers the frogs and toads.

Here he is with one of the american toads.
Scientific Name: Bufo americanus

A wood frog.
Scientific Name: Rana sylvatica

The Great Salamander Migration!

By the way all the excitement in the background was due to the fact that my son's frog was currently loose hopping all over my kitchen.