about those black fellows. I often meet them on june or early july hikes in the bavarian / austrian alps when it is WET ...
and they LOVE to wrestle .....
Gangolf Haub - Nov 23, 2009 2:45 am - Hasn't voted
Re: What a nice portrait
Hehe - my sister in law also says she witnessed a wrestling match this summer. It's fun to watch since they seem to take it so seriously.
Gangolf Haub - Nov 23, 2009 2:46 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Cool article
Thanks - you know how it is: you meet somebody, get interested and google him. Then you feel even more interested ...
Gangolf, do you know of the university of Salzburg's public Salamander distribution research project?
http://alpensalamander.eu/blog/
"The main goal is to map occurrence, population- size and development of the Alpine Salamander. [...] First, we will establish an oral history of Alpine Salamander observations in the past 50 years by conducting interviews in the local community, such as alpinists [...] to preserve their well-versed local knowledge of the Alpine Salamander. Second we will check these regions for Alpensalamander observations ourselves to explore their habitat and their ecology."
You can contribute by reporting your sightings through their website.
Gangolf Haub - Nov 23, 2009 2:46 am - Hasn't voted
Strange to note that I once saw a salamander of a dark blueish colour (with whiteish or yellowish spots) in north central Quebec (in the vicinity of the town of Chapais). In considering the actual distribution of such critters I surmuise that the critter in question was beyond the northern limit of its distribution. Although such critters in passing winter below the ice in a pond can theoretically have a more northernly distribution than suspected...(the water below the ice is of the same temperature no matter where the critter is...That also applies for altitude...)
I guess that the same rationality can be applied to the other amphibians which hibernate below water.
I tend to do some amateur prospection during the summer months and since I go into the woods alone I often am followed by creatures most of which are curious. Although occasionally curiousity is not the driving imputous of some creatures which in seeeing a moron like myself in a state of casial abandonement may represent a potential threat. Thus it is always wiser to tackle the wilderness as a group.
Since cold lengthy winters may be sifficently harsh to eliminate many (apart from the hibernators)I surmise that some ground level wildlife may priveledge migration if in the incapacity to hibernate. While this is fairly obvious , I always had questions on the migrational behaviour of the gigantopithecus ape that is often observed without being formally recognised as truely existing...(hibernators ?...)
Gangolf Haub - Nov 25, 2009 2:31 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Just like home !
Thanks! These guys after all were not migrating, they were in their natural habitat which is something like 3000ft - 7500ft. Some of them get washed down by torrential creeks to as low as 150ft and at their speed will have a long time getting beck up to where they belong.
personally I have only seen a single Alpensalamander, near the Amberger hut in Stubai in 1955!
Gangolf Haub - Nov 25, 2009 2:33 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Very interesting,
I'm afraid - after I saw some youtube movies - that we really watched them during their mating ritual. Why one would do that in the middle of the road beats me but when testosterone is rushing through your veins you gotta do what you gotta do :-)
Hi Gangolf,
loved your write-up. We once saw a Fire Salamander on the trail up to the Renclusa refugio in the Spanish Pyrenees. It was dark at around 4.00 am and the creature tried to hide from our headlamps under a rock. Do you know if they are normally nocturnal? I've never seen one during the day.
cheers Johnnie
Gangolf Haub - Nov 30, 2009 10:43 am - Hasn't voted
Re: nocturnal?
German wikipedia says they are nocturnal - however, the one which you see in the article walked around at 2 p.m. north of Kranjska Gora. They simply like to hide - or what would you do if you were small and slooooooow ?
I guess in Spain its unlikely to be moist enough in June during the day to encourage the little chaps out of their hidey holes so strolling about pre-dawn is their only option maybe.
Once I went back from a hike in the worst weather ever and dozens of these black friends were on the road. It was nearby Wassen in late june, Switzerland.
A few years ago we saw more than ten of them in the Julian Alps, somewhere below the Montasio. It was on a rainy and foggy morning after a rainy day and night:)
There were salamanders on the path at every fifth or sixth step. We really had to be careful not to step on them.
selinunte01 - Nov 22, 2009 8:34 am - Voted 10/10
What a nice portraitabout those black fellows. I often meet them on june or early july hikes in the bavarian / austrian alps when it is WET ...
and they LOVE to wrestle .....
Gangolf Haub - Nov 23, 2009 2:45 am - Hasn't voted
Re: What a nice portraitHehe - my sister in law also says she witnessed a wrestling match this summer. It's fun to watch since they seem to take it so seriously.
Gangolf Haub - Nov 23, 2009 2:46 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Cool articleThanks - you know how it is: you meet somebody, get interested and google him. Then you feel even more interested ...
phlipdascrip - Nov 22, 2009 7:40 pm - Voted 10/10
Alpine Salamander research projectGangolf, do you know of the university of Salzburg's public Salamander distribution research project?
http://alpensalamander.eu/blog/
"The main goal is to map occurrence, population- size and development of the Alpine Salamander. [...] First, we will establish an oral history of Alpine Salamander observations in the past 50 years by conducting interviews in the local community, such as alpinists [...] to preserve their well-versed local knowledge of the Alpine Salamander. Second we will check these regions for Alpensalamander observations ourselves to explore their habitat and their ecology."
You can contribute by reporting your sightings through their website.
Gangolf Haub - Nov 23, 2009 2:46 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Alpine Salamander research projectWill do!
goofball - Nov 23, 2009 9:42 pm - Voted 10/10
very coollizards are funny. love to see 'em do their "push ups" here in the desert when they want to look all big n tough. ha !
Gangolf Haub - Nov 24, 2009 2:52 am - Hasn't voted
Re: very coolNot much of a lizard - more related to toads and newts. Thanks.
suddendescent - Nov 24, 2009 2:17 pm - Voted 10/10
Just like home !Fine article !
Strange to note that I once saw a salamander of a dark blueish colour (with whiteish or yellowish spots) in north central Quebec (in the vicinity of the town of Chapais). In considering the actual distribution of such critters I surmuise that the critter in question was beyond the northern limit of its distribution. Although such critters in passing winter below the ice in a pond can theoretically have a more northernly distribution than suspected...(the water below the ice is of the same temperature no matter where the critter is...That also applies for altitude...)
I guess that the same rationality can be applied to the other amphibians which hibernate below water.
I tend to do some amateur prospection during the summer months and since I go into the woods alone I often am followed by creatures most of which are curious. Although occasionally curiousity is not the driving imputous of some creatures which in seeeing a moron like myself in a state of casial abandonement may represent a potential threat. Thus it is always wiser to tackle the wilderness as a group.
Since cold lengthy winters may be sifficently harsh to eliminate many (apart from the hibernators)I surmise that some ground level wildlife may priveledge migration if in the incapacity to hibernate. While this is fairly obvious , I always had questions on the migrational behaviour of the gigantopithecus ape that is often observed without being formally recognised as truely existing...(hibernators ?...)
Gangolf Haub - Nov 25, 2009 2:31 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Just like home !Thanks! These guys after all were not migrating, they were in their natural habitat which is something like 3000ft - 7500ft. Some of them get washed down by torrential creeks to as low as 150ft and at their speed will have a long time getting beck up to where they belong.
Ejnar Fjerdingstad - Nov 24, 2009 5:16 pm - Hasn't voted
Very interesting,personally I have only seen a single Alpensalamander, near the Amberger hut in Stubai in 1955!
Gangolf Haub - Nov 25, 2009 2:33 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Very interesting,I'm afraid - after I saw some youtube movies - that we really watched them during their mating ritual. Why one would do that in the middle of the road beats me but when testosterone is rushing through your veins you gotta do what you gotta do :-)
DrJonnie - Nov 30, 2009 7:39 am - Voted 10/10
nocturnal?Hi Gangolf,
loved your write-up. We once saw a Fire Salamander on the trail up to the Renclusa refugio in the Spanish Pyrenees. It was dark at around 4.00 am and the creature tried to hide from our headlamps under a rock. Do you know if they are normally nocturnal? I've never seen one during the day.
cheers Johnnie
Gangolf Haub - Nov 30, 2009 10:43 am - Hasn't voted
Re: nocturnal?German wikipedia says they are nocturnal - however, the one which you see in the article walked around at 2 p.m. north of Kranjska Gora. They simply like to hide - or what would you do if you were small and slooooooow ?
DrJonnie - Dec 1, 2009 10:11 am - Voted 10/10
Moisty?Hi Gangolf,
I guess in Spain its unlikely to be moist enough in June during the day to encourage the little chaps out of their hidey holes so strolling about pre-dawn is their only option maybe.
cheers Johnnie
ferdinandverboom - Dec 1, 2009 10:43 am - Hasn't voted
bad weather companionOnce I went back from a hike in the worst weather ever and dozens of these black friends were on the road. It was nearby Wassen in late june, Switzerland.
Gangolf Haub - Dec 1, 2009 2:44 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: bad weather companionYes, these guys simply cherish bad weather. It's in their genes...
saman - Dec 2, 2009 2:32 am - Hasn't voted
Salamander invasion:)A few years ago we saw more than ten of them in the Julian Alps, somewhere below the Montasio. It was on a rainy and foggy morning after a rainy day and night:)
There were salamanders on the path at every fifth or sixth step. We really had to be careful not to step on them.
CheesySciFi - Dec 11, 2009 11:23 am - Voted 10/10
Salamander fight!I didn't even know that the Alps had salamanders! Guess I learn something new every day. Thanks for the article.
Gangolf Haub - Dec 12, 2009 5:43 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Salamander fight!You're very welcome! Thanx in return!