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 Smoky
Mountain National park is home to more than 25 species of salamander.
In fact one species, Jordan's salamander, is found only in the park. This
has helped Smoky Mountain National Park earn the title of salamander capital
of the United States. And it was our quest, a family of four from Chicago,
to see some salamanders while visiting the park.
The first few creeks we visited we did what any normal person would do:
look down into the water, expecting for salamanders to just appear in
front of our eyes. We planned to participate in the Salamanderin' for
Kids program at the Sugarlands Visitor Center, but that wasn't scheduled
until Friday, the last day of our trip. On our hike to Grotto Falls we
were lucky enough to meet up with a man and woman who work at the Ripley's
Aquarium. There were at the falls doing volunteer work studying salamanders.
When I heard them talking, I asked if they could show our 10-year-old
where to look for salamanders. He was very helpful and soon the kids were
up to their elbows in salamanders.
  As
we discovered, salamanders don't hang out in the water. They like the
dark damp places near it. Part of the fun of salamandering is wallowing
around in streams, creeks and ditches turning over stones and logs (and,
of course, replacing them to their original position) and churning through
leaf litter and muck just to find the shy slippery creatures. A number
of species of salamanders like to hang out around where water flows over
rock outcroppings in the mountains. The combination of water, cool rocks,
moss, vegetation and leaf litter makes a fine salamander habitat. And
once your eyes become accustomed to picking these cryptic creatures out,
it is generally easy to find a few salamanders at almost any damp area.
With a small twig you can prod the salamander out from his hiding space.
A flashlight could be handy, even in the daytime - it helps focus your
eyes.
 To
us, all the ones the kids found looked to be the same species, but the
man from the aquarium had a book that can be purchased in any park store
which describes each species of salamander. The key is to look at the
color of their bellies and then look for a pattern on their backs.
It is a federal offense to remove any animal from the park, and at this
park salamanders are especially sensitive. We caught them and put them
in a jar for a few minutes while we looked at them. Then we put them back
where we found them and went on to hunt for the next one. We spent about
45 minutes at the top of Grotto Falls and found at least 15 salamanders
of about 6 different species. Once we knew where to look, we found salamanders
near all the rivers and creeks we visited for the rest of out trip.
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