Salamanders

When we found salamanders in Martha's dog dish last weekend, I did not expect them to become pets. William and Nora were so excited about them (Audrey seems to share her mother's enthusiasm for creatures) I figured a few days would be ok. Darin educated himself on the ideal habitat and diet of this particular salamander, and the boys went to work gathering moss, rocks, grasshoppers, and ants, and placed it all into a covered ice cream pail and put it in the garage.

The next night I was shutting the lights off, getting the house ready for bed, while my dear husband slept on the couch. Just as I am turning off the last light, I see something black crawling across the living room rug. I screamed a mighty loud scream, and that shot the snoring husband off the couch and to my rescue and put that escapee outside. Yup, I am totally a girl about crawly things, and this has just gotten worse since the snake in the house earlier this fall. You see, it was 1 a.m. and I was checking on the baby one last time before bed and there was a SNAKE outside of her door. Of course, the husband was not home, and he told me to "get the vacuum and suck it up." Ha! Not a chance. My dear neighbors came to the rescue. Ever since then, I have been a bit jumpy.

The goal was to keep the salamanders alive and well long enough to take them to William's preschool class. It was his turn for sharing today. He and Dad created another ideal environment for a few of the salamanders in a big jar and he brought it to school. Tonight was their big release. They served their purpose.

The 'home' of the salamanders for the past few days.

This bucket was LOADED with salamanders. Look closely.

Loving on one of the little guys one more time.

Goodbye...until they hatch again next fall.