Favoritos de salameander

One of 4 individuals of this amazing species observed while exploring a tributary of the Unadilla River. After reading Bishop's seminal work "Handbook of Salamanders", my best friend/cousin/fellow Herpetologist "Pete" (@jdanch) and I decided to check out some historical New York State records for C. alleghaniensis listed in the book, some dating back to the 1940's! We set out on a field trip to examine some old locality records from Delaware County, and were amazed to find a population still extant at one particular locale. Unfortunately we noticed a decrease in the water quality as we worked our way downstream, encountering several small factories pumping effluent directly into the river. I believe this had negatively impacted this population even prior to the 1980's, as we observed no subadults or juveniles, only the 4 large and apparently old adults (one being a "monster" female, only 2 inches shy of the 29 1/8" record specimen!) - despite the two of us having field experience with this species, and a thorough search of over a mile of potential habitat. One specimen had an unusual, large "egg-shaped" growth/lesion on the upper caudal region, a condition I suspect was related to the deteriorating water quality. Sadly, it has come to my knowledge that recent biological surveys at this location targeting this particular species have produced no additional observations of North America's very own magnificent "Giant Salamander".

Everybody's heard of "Walking with Dinosaurs" - how about "Swimming with Salamanders"? haha! Part of an awesome field day with my cousin Pete 30-some years ago - found about 15 of these amazing creatures in all growth stages, saw Long-tailed Salamanders, Milksnakes, Wood Turtles - and even saved a beautiful black-phase Timber Rattler from a miserable fate at the hands of two trout fishermen (of the "only good snake is a dead snake" mentality!). Good times! Happy Valentine's Day to all the lovely Ladies of iNaturalist!

This is a HUGE female "Eastern" Hellbender (amusingly referred to as the "Snot-Otter" by local fishermen), at 27.5" (Record is 29"). After reading Bishop's seminal work "Handbook of Salamanders", my best friend/cousin/herper Pete and I decided to check out some historical records listed in the book. We decided to examine some old locality records in Delaware County, and were amazed to find a population still extant at this locale (observed a total of 4 individuals). Unfortunately, we noticed the water quality decreasing as we searched downstream, encountering several small factories pumping effluent directly into the river. I believe this had affected this population negatively even then, as we observed no sub-adults/juveniles, and all were apparently old adults. One specimen had an unusual, large, egg-shaped tumor/lesion on its tail, possibly related to the poor water quality. I often wonder as to the fate of this population of magnificent "Giant Salamanders", some thirty-odd years later.