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Springtime Colorado Tiger Salamanders…in a Drought

Most of my High Desert Salamander cattle tanks have been dry this year. Guess that’s reasonable, what with Colorado being in an ‘Historic Drought’ and all. It means that we won’t get a lot of new Salamanders this year. Or…

picture Adult Tiger Salamander in a SW Colorado pond

Most of my High Desert Salamander cattle tanks have been dry this year. Guess that’s reasonable, what with Colorado being in an ‘Historic Drought’ and all. It means that we won’t get a lot of new Salamanders this year. Or any, maybe.

So instead, yesterday I took a trip up to one of my favorite higher altitude cattle tanks. It’s at about 7500’ in elevation.

There was water in the tank. That was a good start! And as I watched, I saw a couple of Salamanders come up for air. Ahh, this was great.

picture Adult Tiger Salamander in a SW Colorado pond

I finally got a good view of one of the Salamanders. It was an adult Tiger Salamander, about  six, maybe seven inches long. Since this was an  adult in the water,  I’m thinking that the Salamanders were breeding now. I’ve not seen adult Salamanders here before, just juveniles.

picture Closer view of an adult Tiger Salamander, in a SW Colorado pond

I watched the Salamander for five or ten minutes, until it finally ghosted away into the deep waters of the pool.

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