This was interesting to me I live in Ontario an hour out of Toronto Have never seen a salamander here in any garden I have had over the years But In Florida I have some very nice gardens and the past maybe four years I do have what I think is a salamander family living in the garden down there. They are not colourfull like your tiger salamander. Just a grey colour. I seem to see them each year in the shady gardens not on the sunny side Never found much information about them. Interesting that we have them in Canada as well TO bad it is that people have an instinct to kill such things but most of all snakes I always feel badly to hear people talk about how terrific it was to kill a snake that they found on their property I know instinctively people are frightened of snakes but they do so much good. really enjoyed to see this article and what others had to say

Wow, Scott...these pictures are wonderful! What beautiful little guys! I have never seen any in the wild at all, and would be thrilled to find them. Another critter I need to learn to hunt for. Thanks so much for sharing these terrific photos! I could learn to love these guys! Marcia

Hello folks. I have been somewhat dormant these past few weeks due to moving and getting settled in back in Hays. Despite all of the school work and my busy schedule, my roomate (Mike Rochford, a herp grad student here at FHSU) and I have been able to herp quite a bit. I will start with late July. A few researchers from Ohio State University came to Kansas to collect venom samples from Massasauga rattlesnakes. So we set out to aid them in thier search. Here the totals: 15 + Massasaugas 2 Prairie Rattlesnakes 3 Great Plains Rat Snakes 2 Texas Brown Snakes 1 Texas Longnose Snake 2 Kansas Glossy Snakes (I know there were more in the other cars, but I cannot recall the totals) Glossy and Longnose Snakes have a limited range in Kansas. They are always a good find and both are protected in Kansas. Over the past few weeks, Mike and I have been able to roadcruise Ellis County...Totals: TMTC Western Slender Glass Lizards TMTC Prairie Rattlesnakes 5 Great Plains Rat Snakes 1 Speckled King Snake 1 Eastern Hognose- We are at the furthest west of their range. They are somewhat uncommon here in western Kansas, although they seem to be fairly common in some places. The Easterns we have here are incredible looking. Here is an example of a western Ks eastern hog: http://webcat.fhsu.edu/ksfauna/herps/index.asp?page=species&species_id=393-995&dots=yes&tributaries=yes&isAnura=&map=ks 1 Bullsnake TMTC Lined Snakes TMTC Ringnecks TMTC Western Coachwhips TMTC Woodhouse Toads Herps are really moving out here. We had to go to the Red Hills region of southwestern Kansas last weekend for a night, so we herped...Totals: 1 Prairie Kingsnake 1 huge Coachwhip 1 Massasauga 1 Black Rat Snake TMTC Woodhouse Toad TMTC Plains Leopard Frogs 1 G.P. Narrow-mouthed Toad 1 Great Plains Toad 1 Common Garter Snake 1 Western Slender Glass Lizard Now so far we were disappointed with the night's totals. We had to make the three hour drive back to Hays and it was about midnight, so we set out. Along the way we ran into a massive storm and we enjoyed a lightshow the entire way home. I was hoping we would get some active rain that would set the Tiger Salamanders in motion, but we had no such luck. At about 1:30 in the morning, we saw a small white snake in the road, it was very...glossy...and about a foot long. I turned the truck around and we went back to find a Kansas Glossy Snake crawling across the road. This was a great find because Kansas Glossy Snakes have not been recorded from that far north in Kiowa County. It was a great specimen. A little while later we crossed into Edwards County and after a few minutes, we spotted a DOR. We went back to find an adult Dipodemys (Kangaroo Rat) sitting in the middle of the road. We agreed that this was not the DOR that we had seen, so we went back further to find an adult Texas Longnose Snake DOR. This was a somewhat significant find because it was a county record and a slight range extension in that part of Kansas. We have had some great luck out here, but we still have yet to find a Western Hognose or an adult Eastern. Watch for a large post soon that will be complete with pictures. (And I mean LARGE)... chad

Great photos - I especially like the Western Chorus frogs and the salamander. Thanks for showing them. I took a look at your website too - very nice. Looks very professional and the photos are really good. Bernadette