Just the Cutest Little Amphibian I Know!

Spotted Salamanders are a little rare, a little shy, and a lot cute!

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I am SO excited to introduce you to this shy, reclusive forest neighbor of mine.

This is a Spotted Salamander.

Look at him, looking right at me!

Salamanders have a powerfully gentle personality. It’s a gentleness that reaches out across the space between you, wraps right around you, and gentles you, too.

When I saw him, I instinctively sank to a comfortable sitting position beside him and just watched him watch me. I was at once relaxed and intently absorbed into the deep pools of his mild eyes.

They are beautiful creatures. Being amphibious, their skin has that luminous moist quality that is unexpectedly smooth and cool to the touch, as though they carry the dappled shade of a forest spring with them everywhere they go.

And this is what happened when my daughter lightly petted his smooth head with one gentle finger.

Isn’t that the cutest? He arched his entire self up to meet her, curling slowly to the very tip of his tail!

The last time we saw one of these beauties was in the summer of 2019, when we discovered one relaxing in the moss beneath a fallen log alongside a sparkling stream. Perfect salamander habitat, really.

They are so intensely patient. The entire peace of their being forces time to slow to one long, deep breath.

They are not bothered by you. They are curious, and content to rest one light, gentle foot after another on your palm, and contemplate your comfortable warmth against their cool bellies.

This year, the day of our meeting was cool, misty, damp, the early swirling transition from lingering winter to rising spring, and the Spotted Salamander rested for a long time in the gravelly moisture, gathering energy for a journey to a new perfect spot.

Once he got going, he was a simple line of determination, across the driveway, through the streamlet, up the hill, into the moss, and beneath the loamy leafpile at the base of the towering maple tree.

A brief moment of connection, a flood of peace to refresh a weary spirit, and the comfort of knowing that a precious neighbor is making a home nearby. See you around, Spotted Salamander! 💛🖤💛