Article Last Updated: Friday, April 12, 2002 - 12:00:00 AM MST Salamanders hold 'Big Night' By TOBY HENRY Reformer Staff
Sally Ho

BRATTLEBORO -- Environmental groups in the region report that a large-scale salamander migration, with creatures numbering in the hundreds, took place during Tuesday evening's rainstorm.

"Some were running right across the road, others were just taking their time," said Betsy Bennett, curator and educator of the Grafton Nature Museum. "We helped some of them across the road when cars came. It was really fun."

As temperatures reached the 50s during the downpour, about 10 local citizens came out to witness the natural spectacle, Bennett said. Museum officials and local residents watched the migration take place at a beaver brook on Townshend Road.

Spotted salamanders were not the only amphibians out that night, Bennett added.

"We saw wood frogs, spring peepers and one young bullfrog," she continued. "There were a few kids there from Claremont, N.H., and they really enjoyed it."

At the same time, in Williamsville, naturalists from the Brattleboro's Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center accompanied a film crew from the Burlington-based WPTZ television station as the event was recorded for a documentary.

"We had reports (of salamander migrations) from all over," said Deb Smith, an educator at the center. "They moved about 170 (across the road) in Williamsville, and my friend in Putney had about 40 of them in her pond."

Spotted salamanders mate by a process of internal fertilization. While this is the normal route of reproduction for mammals, it is quite an unusual method in the amphibian world. The male salamanders enter the water and release tiny spermatophores, which resemble little Styrofoam balls measuring about a quarter-inch in diameter. Female spotteds then select the spermatophores they want and take them into their bodies, where fertilization takes place over the course of a few days. The eggs are then laid in a jelly-like mass and hatch in six to eight weeks.

BEEC representatives said this was a banner year for salamander migration awareness. Hollis Burbank-Hammarlund, the executive director, said that 125 local residents called and asked to be notified when the migration began to take place. The volunteers observed the migration at a pair of vernal pools on Grimes Road.

"We had a great time," she said. "We saw about 170 salamanders in Williamsville before the night was over, and we lost count of the spring peepers and green frogs."

As the film crew shone bright lights into the water, Burbank-Hammarlund said, they saw that the vernal pools were teeming with life.

"There was amazing activity," she said. "There were more wood frogs and salamanders in there than I've ever seen before in my life. The cameramen stood there, just in awe of these things."

Although the number of salamanders seen in the region was well in excess of 200, Burbank-Hammarlund recalled that several years ago, there was a report of a local migration with salamanders numbering about 600. However, witnesses report that the event was still remarkable.

"I wouldn't say we saw hundreds, but we saw dozens (of salamanders)," said Bennett, referring to the Grafton migration.

There is the possibility that more salamanders could migrate if a heavy rain returns, said Burbank-Hammarlund

Some salamanders tend to wander off track, and one West Brattleboro resident reported finding one hiding in her house. Despite their unusual appearance, the salamanders are not poisonous. Officials recommend that if one is found, it should be returned outside so that it may continue on its way. As they tend to become despondent if kept in captivity, it is also recommended that they not be kept as pets.