STILL LIFE WITH COMMENTARY

by bob Posted on October 15, 2010

Since the snow melted in March, yesterday’s walk was the first I saw no salamanders in the Nature Preserve. If efts sense footfalls far enough away, they run, otherwise they stop moving altogether. Now, with three hard frosts, they are digging their winter burrows, not darting or freezing on top of the leaf mold.

Two summers ago, this particular salamander froze at my approach. He stayed still while I arranged myself and took his picture.

In the spring, salamanders dig out and migrate to their birth ponds where they mate. A road in the Preserve disturbs many of these routes. Asphalt ramps grade the drop of the curbs so the salamanders can descend to the road, cross and climb back to undisturbed ground. Closed during the winter, the University reopens the road only when the efts scatter throughout the Preserve again.

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4 Responses to STILL LIFE WITH COMMENTARY

CK MacLeod says:

October 15, 2010 at 1:01 pm CK MacLeod(Quote)

dang, well done… you should probably tell us what kind of camera and lens and settings and so on you use for these pictures… the color and detail on this one and the previous one are way too good for this blog ;)

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bob says:

October 15, 2010 at 1:33 pm bob(Quote)

@ CK MacLeod:

Thanks.

The camera’s a Pentax Spotmatic I bought used in 1979. The lens was a 55mm macro George the barber gave me when he went digital. (The old glass can be pretty amazing.) The rest is lost in the mists of time.

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Sully says:

October 15, 2010 at 3:41 pm Sully(Quote)

Tis no surprise the academy panders,
To the whims of neon salamanders,
But one wonders if a tiny toe,
Finds rugged asphalt apropos.
And if a little orange nose,
Recoils from a naptha dose.

Great picture!

Reply
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