salamanders on a sunday night; O’Hill herping trip!

OVERVIEW

hello salamander enthusiasts,
Have you ever wondered about the amphibian life on O’Hill? WELL ME TOO! The only problem is iNaturalist barely has anything for amphibians up there (the photo is the species of the one salamander on iNaturalist at o’hill), so we’re gonna investigate for ourselves on a fun little herping trip. It’ll definitely be hard to find amphibious critters in January, but I’m hoping the rain will bless us with a few! Sunday is forecasted to be rainy with temps between 35-41 F, which is pretty nice for a January night, makes me think that a couple big Ambystoma should be stomping around

A couple important things to keep in mind:
– If we flip rocks or logs over (more like rolling), make sure to place them back EXACTLY as they were! these guys notice it much more than we do
– If we pick em up, be gentle and let them crawl over your hands
– Wash your hands if you’ve handled sunscreen or picaridin-containing sunscreen (non-greasy ones)
– We might find absolutely nothing and end up soaking wet in the cold dark

The plan: meet outside Slaughter at 6:30 ish, walk up to the O’Hill trails until we find someplace that’s sorta flat, walk around with our eyes peeled and flip a few attractive rocks and logs, admire the salamanders, return to the trail by 8:30 ish, and head home for a deep and restful slumber.

What to bring:
– raincoat!!
– warm clothes under that raincoat!
– hiking shoes
– Light source, headlamp or flashlight
– water
– more socks?
– the iNaturalist app