Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Dabney S. Lancaster Community College
Clifton Forge, Virginia

Backpacking trip to Laurel Fork in Highland County

It's difficult to get good pictures of our salamander study in the dense canopy of Laurel Fork.

Salamander Photos

Our slimy captures were uniformly large and fast.

Mountain duskies were common. This one shows a prominent eye-stripe.

This red-backed salamander shows classic form.

The seal salamander is in the "Dusky" genus (Desmognathus) -- note the eye-stripe, beefy hind legs, and keeled tail.

We classified this salamander as a Northern Dusky because of the keeled tail -- even though it lacks an eye-stripe.

The Spring Salamander lives in the stream and is nearly transparent.

Other Critters

We saw several snails

Several crayfish were this dazzling blue color.

Deer bones show evidence of predation.

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