This charismatic smile belongs to none other than the Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum), a secretive amphibian that lives within the forests and wetlands in and around the City of Jamestown. During the first warm spring rains these salamanders migrate in large masses to temporary pools filled with snow melt and spring rain water. Theses pools become a frenzy of breeding activity for merely a week or two and once egg masses are laid, these salamanders return to their hiding places yet again. As the spring progresses, the salamander babies will hatch from their globular masses and become voracious predators eating mosquito larvae and other pesky bugs. As they feed and grow, they race against the clock to develop from free swimming legless tadpoles into four legged land dwellers before their nursery pool dries out towards the end of summer. Talk about a rapid development!
The ‘Meet Your Neighbours’ global biodiversity project is a worldwide photographic initiative dedicated to reconnecting people with the wildlife on their own doorsteps (wherever on the planet this doorstep happens to be) – and enriching their lives in the process. The animals and plants found in our immediate vicinity are vital to people: they represent the first, and for some, the only contact with wild nature we have.
