by Linda Martinson

We had an exciting surprise one fine August morning: a walkingstick on our car door handle. They are not uncommon but they are rarely seen, mainly because they are shy and generally nocturnal and most active between 9 PM and 3 AM. Also, imagine how well camouflaged they are on the ground or on trees. Note: this one is not upside down on the handle — what might look like its head in this photograph is actually its “tail”.

By Linda Martinson

Following up with salamanders: I’ve tried a few times, but I haven’t been able to find any salamanders in the evening to train my blue light flashlight on them to see their psychedelic colors. I checked with a bonafide biologist who (even better) was a camp counselor for a few summers at Camp Kanuga. She described gathering some campers and fishing around in shallow marshy pond areas with their hands and pulling out salamanders to examine with regular flashlights. Hmm…I was hoping for something a little different. Maybe less fishing around with my hands in marshy areas at night and more watching them crawl out voluntarily while I shine my blue light flashlight on them. I’ll keep you posted.

We have, however, seen twelve red efts so far this summer! Red efts are eastern red-spotted newts, a common salamander in our area, in the juvenile stage of their lives during which they have lungs. They don’t need to live in water, and they disperse terrestrially in all directions. These newts hatch with gills and no lungs in the water and, in the final adult stage of their lives, they return to the water again to mate and lay eggs. As adults, they become thin-skinned, dull colored and lungless salamanders again that have to remain moist and concentrate on reproduction. Hopefully, they have some fleeting memories of their five to seven years as bright red, completely terrestrial, lunged and thick-skinned, toxic and cocky juvenile red efts.

LM photos

By Linda Martinson

During these days of pandemic, there is time to contemplate our mountain views. The view is always changing, but the mountains seem timeless and they almost are.

The Blue Ridge Mountains in the Appalachians are 1.2 billion years old and among the oldest mountain ranges in the world. The highest peak is Mount Mitchell at 6,684 feet, and the range has an average elevation of 2,000 – 4,000 feet. The Appalachian Mountains have been uplifted and eroded during at least four different periods over millions of years, and these cycles of mountain formation and erosion have resulted in an ancient and persistent mountain range with amazing biodiversity.