Of salamanders, toads & chorus frogs

Deirdre Kanzig thought she had creatures from the Black Lagoon living in her backyard pond, and made contact with me to find out who they actually were.

Coming face-to-face with an axolotl - a larval salamander - could set one back her heels. For some people they would appear grotesque; for others, frightening, and in Deirdre's case, a big question mark: What are they, are they natives, is it OK for them to be in my pond, and, most important of all, will they hurt my frogs?

Starting from the top: They are long-toed salamander, Ambystoma macrodactylum, a native of Central Oregon.

They do indeed have "long-toes," as they are expert diggers, known as "burrowing salamanders." When weather and/or temperature becomes intolerable to them, they dig under forest duff and litter (or spend a lot of time in the Kanzig's water shut-off box).

The adults are easily recognized as they're our only native Central Oregon salamander, about five inches long, and all possess a yellowish band down their back, male and female alike.

As adults they are terrestrial, but they must go back to the water to lay eggs, which hatch in about 20 days (depending on water temperature; I have seen them mating and laying eggs under a thin coat of ice on tiny, spring-fed ponds). The axolotls swim around breathing with the aid of those remarkable gills and eating all types of very tiny invertebrates.

When an axolotl begins metamorphosis from the larval stage to adults, a thin membrane grows over its throat so it cannot ingest food or damage their lungs and new internal organs as they develop. The gills supply air, and the about-to-be-adult lives off the fat of its tail. When the lungs start working and the internal organs are up-and-running, the adult salamander emerges from the water, the membrane is ingested, the gills drop off and it becomes terrestrial.

Most breeding amphibians are evidence that the body of water in which they deposit their eggs is of good quality and safe for their offspring. How they know the water is safe is beyond my ability to explain - but it likely has to do with their sensitive skin that tells them, "OK to breed - or let's get outta' here; that water's not safe for anyone!"

And so it is with the other inhabitants of the Kanzig pond; the Western toad, Bufo boreas, (which come in green and brown) and the most vocal of all our native amphibians, the Pacific tree frog, Pseudacris regilla (which come in green, brown, tan and other earth colors). It is also known as the Pacific chorus frog.

From March to May, these tiny songsters shatter our quiet nights with their "Song of Spring." One night Charlie Kanzig walked into the bedroom of his home and shouted over the din to his wife, Deirdre, "Don't you think we should close the window!" Who shouted back, "Charlie... the window is closed...!"