Rotted Circumstances

In March, 2022, I noticed some fallen Pignut/Carya glabra wood under a venerable tree. A rotted limb had fallen and broken into pieces. There was a little jewel in there. The other day I returned. The wood was still there. It’s a well-managed cemetery: they usually clear away such fallen wood and brush, but this is a bit tucked out of the way..

Good thing, too!

I spotted six Eastern Red-backed SalamandersPlethodon cinereus. And a couple of rove beetles, which might be trying to eat the salamanders or vice versa…?

I wondered if these might be salamander eggs.

But they look more like slug eggs.

This is three times as many salamanders than I’ve seen at once in the past here. Pretty remarkable that they survive in the midst of the borough. Yet the lungless wonders do. They are even sometimes spotted in local backyards.