Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Eastern Tiger Salamander

By: Tom Berg

Salamanders are not creatures that most people see every day. In fact, I would bet that most people rarely see salamanders – and many people never see a salamander in their entire lives. But salamanders are very cool and quite interesting. Most are very small, just a couple of inches long, but some can get fairly large.

The eastern tiger salamander is a very large salamander that can grow up to 12 or even 13 inches long. Like many salamander species, their color pattern is highly variable. They are usually black in color (or very dark brown), but they often have so much yellowish-olive blotching on their sides that they look like they have black stripes. Some individuals are mostly black with round yellow spots, while others are more olive-colored.

Eastern tiger salamanders are one of the species of mole salamanders, which simply means that they spend most of their lives underground – like moles. They can also be found under rotting logs. These salamanders can be found throughout much of the central United States, including the Midwest and many spots in the southeast and east coast. Their preferred habitat includes marshes, wetlands, wet woodlands and sluggish streams.

During autumn, eastern tiger salamanders migrate to ponds and marshy areas when the fall rains start.  This is when they are encountered most often by people. The salamanders breed in the very early spring (or even in the winter farther south) and lay their eggs underwater. They need temporary seasonal pools where there are no fish present to give their eggs and young the best chance of survival, since fish love to eat salamander eggs. 

Eastern tiger salamanders are not terribly picky about what they eat. They will consume almost anything small enough to fit in their mouths, including worms, spiders, beetles and other insects. Larger individuals will eat larger prey items, such as small snakes, juvenile mice and even small frogs. Smaller salamanders are also fair game when they are hungry.

Keep an eye out for these interesting amphibians!

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