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How to Find Salamander Eggs

Each spring, on the first mild, rainy night, many species of salamanders migrate en masse from underground winter homes in the woods to depressions in the forest known as "vernal pools." These pools, filled with water from rain and spring snow melt, are where the male salamanders deposit sperm on twigs and leaves. Females pick the sperm up and internally fertilize their eggs before depositing them in the vernal pool and migrating back to their woodland homes. It takes a month or two for the eggs to become larvae. The key is for the larvae to develop limbs and lungs before the vernal pool dries up, so that they can be ready to make the trek to the woods for the winter.

Things You'll Need

Rain gear
Boots

Instructions

- 1
  Check weather reports in early spring looking for the first rainy night when the temperatures climb above 45 degrees Fahrenheit when salamanders may be on the move from their winter home to vernal pools.
- 2
  Walk in your favorite woods and locate a vernal pool a couple weeks after conditions have been favorable for salamander migration. The bigger and deeper the depression is, the longer it will take the pool to dry up, making conditions for salamanders more favorable.
- 3
  Look around the edges of the vernal pool for sacs of eggs. When first deposited, the egg sac will be clear and around the size of a tennis ball. Within a couple weeks, the egg sac is often covered with green algae.
- 4
  Look for egg sacs for several weeks after the optimum spring migration conditions have passed. The eggs take a month or two to hatch into larvae.

Nature