[NatureNS] Salamander - dropped tail

From: Christopher Majka <c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca>
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
Date: Wed, 21 May 2008 11:04:21 -0300
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Hi Randy,

An excellent video of this phenomenon. I showed it to John Gilhen who  
says:

"I see this often. As you know Four-toed Salamanders have to be  
handled very carefully as they will shed their tail. Many a Red-backed  
Salamander I have seen with tail regeneration. In fact every Red- 
backed Salamander I saw from Isle Haute showed tail regeneration and I  
was thinking the Deer Mice may be the predator."

Cheers!

Chris

On 20-May-08, at 6:23 PM, Randy Lauff wrote:

>
>
> Well, I learned something new today - I do most days, probably  
> everyday, but this was a relative biggie for me. I think from early  
> on, most kids learn that some lizards can drop their tails when  
> faced with a predator. The tail continues to wiggle, diverting the  
> predator's attention and the lizard gets away.
> I did not know that some salamanders can also do this - a very quick  
> Google search told me that this may be confined to small ones (i.e.  
> we would not expect our Yellow-spotted Salamanders to do this, I  
> don't think).
>
> Today I was out in the woods with two students. One of them  
> discovered a Red-backed Salamander with it's dropped tail next to  
> it. Now I've picked up dozens, if not hundreds of these little guys,  
> and have never had them drop a tail on me. This one had the dropped  
> tail when discovered...perhaps it had just been attacked by a snake  
> or larger salamander and the student scared it off?
>
> Anyway, I had my camera with me and took a picture and a short  
> movie. I've posted it at: http://people.stfx.ca/rlauff/personel/recent.html 
> .
>
> Enjoy,
> Randy
> _________________________________
> RF Lauff
> Way in the boonies of
> Antigonish County, NS.

Christopher Majka
Nova Scotia Museum, 1747 Summer St., Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada  B3H  
3A6
c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca




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<html><body style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; =
-webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">Hi Randy,<div><br></div><div>An =
excellent video of this phenomenon. I showed it to John Gilhen who =
says:</div><div><br></div><div>"I see this often. As you know Four-toed =
Salamanders have to be handled very carefully as they will shed their =
tail. Many a Red-backed Salamander I have seen with tail regeneration. =
In fact every Red-backed Salamander I saw from Isle Haute showed tail =
regeneration and I was thinking the Deer Mice may be the =
predator."</div><div><br></div><div>Cheers!</div><div><br></div><div>Chris=
</div><div><br><div><div>On 20-May-08, at 6:23 PM, Randy Lauff =
wrote:</div><br class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote =
type=3D"cite"><div class=3D"gmail_quote"> <blockquote =
class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px =
0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid"> =
<div>&nbsp;</div></blockquote></div> <div><br>Well, I learned something =
new today - I do most days, probably everyday, but this was a relative =
biggie for me. I think from early on, most kids learn that some lizards =
can drop their tails when faced with a predator. The tail continues to =
wiggle, diverting the predator's attention and the lizard gets away.<br =
clear=3D"all"> </div> <div>I did not know that some salamanders can also =
do this - a very quick Google search told me that this may be confined =
to small ones (i.e. we would not expect our Yellow-spotted Salamanders =
to do this, I don't think).</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Today I was out =
in the woods with two students. One of them discovered a Red-backed =
Salamander with it's dropped tail next to it. Now I've picked up dozens, =
if not hundreds of these little guys, and have never had them drop a =
tail on me. This one had the dropped tail when discovered...perhaps it =
had just been attacked by a snake or larger salamander and the student =
scared it off?</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Anyway, I had my camera with =
me and took a picture and a short movie. I've posted it at: <a =
href=3D"http://people.stfx.ca/rlauff/personel/recent.html">http://people.s=
tfx.ca/rlauff/personel/recent.html</a>.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> =
<div>Enjoy,<br>Randy<br>_________________________________<br>RF =
Lauff<br>Way in the boonies of<br>Antigonish County, NS. =
</div></blockquote></div><br><div apple-content-edited=3D"true"> <span =
class=3D"Apple-style-span" style=3D"border-collapse: separate; =
border-spacing: 0px 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; =
font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: =
normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: auto; =
-khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; text-indent: 0px; =
-apple-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; =
white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><div =
style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; =
-khtml-line-break: after-white-space; "><div>Christopher =
Majka</div><div>Nova Scotia Museum, 1747 Summer St., Halifax, Nova =
Scotia, Canada&nbsp; B3H 3A6</div><div><a =
href=3D"mailto:c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca">c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca</a></div><=
div><br class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></div></div><br =
class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"></span> =
</div><br></div></body></html>=

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