There are Blue-Spotted Salamanders hiding in the moist habitats of Ryerson Woods. You may not see them as you hike along the trails because they are hiding beneath stumps, logs, moss, rocks and moist leaf litter. That's where they forage for invertebrates, including earthworms, spiders, snails and both larval and adult insects.

Though the blue-spotted salamander is very secretive and is usually in hiding, when it is threatened it may slowly wave its tail back and forth and release a sticky foul-tasting substance from its tail.

Blue-spotted salamanders are about 3 to 5 inches long with four toes on their front feet and five toes on their hind feet. They are shiny black with light blue flecks and spots on their sides and tail; their bellies may be dark gray. Newly transformed larvae have yellow spots that turn blue after they move from pond to land, an adaptation that helps camouflage them in the two different environments.

On rainy nights in early spring, the blue-spotted salamanders emerge from their winter hiding places beneath rocks and logs, and move to nearby temporary vernal ponds or flooded ditches to breed. Temporary ponds where the salamanders' predators, fish and large frogs, cannot become established, are safer than permanent ones. There they lay eggs singly or in small clusters on the pond bottom or around submerged logs, plants or twigs.

In three to four weeks, the eggs hatch and the salamander larvae emerge. At first they resemble tadpoles, but soon develop legs and grow, feeding on the worms, crustaceans and insects in the pond. In a few months, before the pond dries up, they transform into adults. The salamanders live for a few years, so if a summer is dry, and the temporary ponds dry up before the larvae become adults, they will be able to try again the next year.