Today in my backyard

I found (and turned over) a water-collector (it's the base of a picnic table umbrella; the umbrella has been taken down and the picnic table moved but the base was collecting rainwater) - it's almost mosquito season.

Anyway, under the thing was a worm or two ...and then I realized that one (two?) of the worms didn't seem to be worms...not slimy enough. They had... heads? eyes? Tiny brown snakes??

So I very gently nudged one with a long grass stem and it turns out they were a pair of very small, skinny, brownish red salamanders. They had very small legs. I could have run in for the camera but wasn't sure if I could get close enough for a shot. Oh well, I missed it; let them go find a new damp place to live.

I just looked on the web and I'm pretty sure these were California Slender Salamanders; this is what they looked like.

Today in my backyard ( in category Nature/Cats ) - posted at Sun, 25 May, 21:46 Pacific | «e»