Alright so today I am in the Shenandoah.
I have brought with me my friends
Caesar Villacorta
and Vanessa.
Both are herpers!
We are going to be looking for a rare salamander
called the Shenandoah salamander
as well as other herps.
Let’s see what we find today!
[ wind blowing ] [♪ theme music ♪]
So Caesar was only a half-hour late today.
And Vanessa claims that is what?
–That’s pretty good. That’s not late.
[ wind blowing ]
What do you think?
Pretty bad. [ laughter ]
This is the little dude I want to find:
the Shenandoah salamander.
Are you ready?
I’m ready.
We are going to find some salamanders.
We are going to find some snakes.
Let’s do this.
[ ♪ calm folk music ♪ ]
♪
The Shenandoah salamander
only lives on three mountains
in the entire world
and that’s right here in Virginia.
We are going to explore Hawksbill Mountain today.
♪
The Shenandoah salamander very much resembles
the eastern red-backed salamander.
And in a way,
the eastern red-backed salamander is the
Shenandoah salamander’s nemesis
because both species compete
for the same resources like food and habitat.
♪
So the first find of the day is…I’m in the light.
Let’s see if we can put that in the light.
[ footsteps on gravel ]
This is a juvenile red-backed.
It’s not a Shenandoah.
They look very similar.
So we’re going to keep looking.
The eastern red-backed salamander
is a much better competitor
and more aggressive
and a reason why the rare Shenandoah’s populations
are limited to such a small range
here in Virginia.
♪
Somebody already herped this.
[ leaves crunching ]
Here we go!
(Vanessa) Found it?
♪
We found uh...
We’re finding a bunch of the red-backs
which is leaving me a little concerned ‘cause
it’s going to be harder to find a Shenandoah.
We’re going to move higher in altitude.
[ footsteps ]
So Vanessa’s really here
for the shrooms I think.
[ leaves crunching ]
Alright what is this type?
I’m not absolutely sure.
But I think this is a Berkeley’s polypore.
That things massive. Put your hand over it.
It’s huge! Is that edible you think?
Yes it’s edible for sure.
She’s a bloodhound on the trail.
What do you got?
What’s the venter look like?
–Marbled.
[ ♪ upbeat music ♪ ]
♪
We’re at the summit
but Vanessa’s afraid of heights.
Caesar how are you with heights?
Somewhat terrified.
[ wind lightly blowing ]
♪
You can do it!
(Caesar) It’ll help if you spread your legs.
(Caesar) It’s harder to hike there.
You’re doing good.
I say that’s pretty good.
You got nine feet from the ledge.
So we’re at the top of the mountain.
But we did not find anything but eastern red-backs
on the way up
so I really want to find a Shenandoah.
I wouldn’t mind finding a timber rattlesnake
but the reason we didn’t find a Shenandoah
is Caesar’s fault.
So we blame Caesar.
(Vanessa) He was late!
Say it again.
Caesar was late. -That’s why!
‘Cause he was late! Always late!
Shame! Shame!
Alright let’s go!
Caesar whatcha got?
Lead-back? -Lead-back yeah.
The lead-back morph of the red-back.
Good work Sir!
She’s probably found thirty red-backs by now.
It’s looking at me.
We’re finding so many red-backs.
And we may have found a couple Shenandoah.
I’ll admit I should have done more research.
Alright, put her back.
We may not be finding
a Shenandoah salamander
but at the same time it’s very rewarding
just being out in the wilderness with friends.
I grew up in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado
so being in a mountainous habitat
always feels so pleasurable to me.
The goal of this mission may have failed...
but we are succeeding in so many other ways
just by hiking
and enjoying our natural world.
We’re leaving Caesar behind.
We should have a cutoff.
A cut off of what?
Like a time that we should not go past that.
♪
That’s a red-backed though.
It’s a yellow morph. A xanthic morph.
♪
So we haven’t found a Shenandoah
but we get a little consolation prize.
That is the coolest thing!
We found a slimy white-spotted salamander
which is a good one.
It settled down.
So right where we found the slimy white
we also found a northern two-lined
and an eastern red-backed.
As Vanessa called it…
it’s the Salamander Hotel
♪
Nice!
He was fast. That guy was hard to grab.
So here we found a juvenile white-spotted.
Vanessa thinks this is what?
That's the winner. -The cutest?
Alright. You’re still no Shenandoah.
♪
Good day overall right? –I’d say so.
Herping is always good stuff
especially in these beeeaauuttiful woods.
We’re leaving here and uh...
some people were stopped in front of us
and they left.
And we looked over and there was a bear mom with her babies.
Check it out.
Vanessa’s very first bear.
It was awesome!
That’s some wild stuff…
♪
So it was a long, hard day of searching.
I think we found—I don’t know—
like fifty eastern red-backed salamanders.
Vanessa found so many.
But we added two new species to that:
A northern two-lined and
of course the slimy white-spotted.
You know? It’s fun.
Just get out with your friends. Spread some knowledge.
Be Nature-heroic. [Koaw 2020 - Yup! #teamkoaw]