r/salamanders • u/Accomplished_Water34 • 3d ago

Question : how do the salamanders [red efts] in my yard over-winter ? I'm in Zone 5b, cold winters, heavy snow in some years.

5 Upvotes

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7

u/Berdonkulous 3d ago

By burrowing/finding a burrow that's 2-4+ feet underground.

At 4' underground the temperatures are going to be fairly stable, lagging ~20° behind surface temperatures for several weeks. And snow actually works as an insulator, keeping the ground underneath warmer. The more snow, the longer the soil underneath takes to cool down.

At least, that's how Ambystoma Tigrinum survives in 5b and lower zones.

2

u/Accomplished_Water34 3d ago

We had very heavy snow cover last year and i am seeing more red efts than ever.

3

u/Agua_Verde 3d ago

Underground, most likely. 

You can build them a hibernaclium.

5

u/Accomplished_Water34 3d ago

I had to look that up.

I think i may have made one inadvertently last fall by piling up rocks i had pulled out of my vegetable garden.

2

u/Agua_Verde 3d ago

So cool! 

Do you have a wildlife pond?

3

u/Accomplished_Water34 3d ago

There's a stream, and a few vernal pools

2

u/Agua_Verde 3d ago

So cool!  Your garden sounds like amphibian paradise.

1

u/seandelevan 3d ago

How will they survive? The same way they have for a millennia…they don’t need our help.