Wildlife Watching Wednesday: Blue-Spotted Salamanders

By: Tom Berg

Have you ever seen a salamander? They are not an everyday sight, at least not in most (dry) places around the city where lots of people live. Salamanders of nearly all species require damp or wet habitats, and blue-spotted salamanders are no different. Native to all of the Great Lakes states, eastern Canada, and the northern New England states, blue-spotted salamanders are secretive but very interesting creatures.

These grayish-blue amphibians with blue spots or flecks can be found in damp or swampy woodland areas, especially where small ponds, ditches, or temporary pools are nearby. Blue-spotted salamanders are called “mole salamanders,” because they spend most of their lives underground in abandoned burrows made by moles, voles, or other small animals. They are also found under damp, decaying logs or piles of moist leaf litter. They eat worms, slugs, spiders, and a variety of small insects.

Blue-spotted salamanders are not endangered, but due to habitat loss, especially in the southern-most parts of their range, they are struggling. In Indiana they are listed as a species of “Special Concern”, and a species in “Greatest Need of Conservation” in Illinois. In Illinois they can only be found in the northeastern corner of the state. They are quite common farther to the north, however.

These fascinating salamanders typically grow to 4-6 inches in length. Adults search for temporary vernal pools in spring to breed, and since these pools usually dry up in the summer the young salamanders don’t need to worry about predatory fish hunting and eating them. That’s good!

One interesting fact about blue-spotted salamanders is that their babies are significant predators of mosquito larvae in the shallow pools where they are born. Before these pools dry up in the summer, the tiny salamanders eat thousands of mosquito larvae. That should make them very popular with people!

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