Robin Arnold Art

Gena and I are again in search of salamanders. The last 4 years put a huge damper on our evening activities because of Gena being unceremoniously dumped on afternoon shift. After 47 years of working in a lab she officially retired at the end of 2015 so we can now pick up where we left off. We went out two nights when the conditions seemed to be perfect--warm and rainy--but we didn't see anything except hundreds of earthworms. We know they're out there somewhere but until we actually find a live one I will have to be content to draw pics of what it would be like to shine the flashlight on one or two of these amphibians. This intriguing pair  were big enough to chew off a foot but fortunately they were smiling and seemed quite friendly. I have no clue where they got the umbrella!

Spring is getting close so I thought  now would be a good time to post this article we wrote in 2009 about vernal pools. Since writing this article the FWS developed a 5 acre marsh on our property creating even more vernal pools. Head out during a spring or late winter thaw and see what you can find. Happy hunting! 12 ACRES IN OHIO A Vernal Pool and the Fountain of Youth We left the house in the gathering darkness as 2 adults in our fifties; by the time we reached the vernal pool at the back of the property, we were 10 years old again. We carried a video camera, a tape recorder, 2 headlamps, and a notebook. It was an early spring evening—damp and windless, and the western chorus frogs in the marsh were just beginning to tune up after a long, cold winter. We were on a mission to check out a small vernal pool and its inhabitants in the back corner of the field. We waded to the middle….   At first, neither of us saw anything but dead grass and decaying leaves on t...