Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Got a call from my mother late oct. about salamanders stuck in window wells in townhomes here in MN.Went to check it out and there were 63 salamanders in the wells.The wells were of the newer variety and the salamanders could not dig out they were cemented at the bottom with rocks as a filler.Saw lots of dead ones too.Relocated to a big pond in MN.There was lots of construction in the area.Anyway went back the next to days and found 77 next day and 52 the next.They were spread out in about 30 different wells.I relocated almost 200 salamanders that weekend and found about 50 that were dead.Kept 8 that were in very bad shape very dehydrated and on there last leg.they are doing fine now and have gotten pretty big(not fat).have a female that is 10 inches long(with tail).So salamanders are still around here in MN.Had not seen a salamander for about 15 years before last oct.Was surprised thought they were all gone due to construction & declining breeding ponds.

There was probably a shallow pond without fish (I believe the term is Vernal pond, which means they are shallow and sometimes dry up in summer so they don't maintain fish and are perfect for ampibians to breed in, because the eggs and larvae don't get eaten by the fish that way)in the area and the townhomes were built near or filled in and built on top of it, the salys were used to migrating there to hibernate there and then breed in the early spring, so now they are a bit messed up.
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1.0 pastel ball python
0.1 mojave ball python
0.1 normal ball python
0.2 3-toed box turtles
2.3 eastern box turtles
0.0.5 3-striped mud turtle
1.0 northern diamondback terrapin
2.1 tiger salamander
1.1 red-sided garter
1.0 anerythristic red-sided garter
1.1 Iowa snow plains garter
1.1 Het butter stripe cornsnake
0.1 anerythristic motley cornsnake

just re-read your post, that is a ton of Salys you saved from the window well "traps" GOOD WORK!!!, you are probably the only one in the area that really cares.
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1.0 pastel ball python
0.1 mojave ball python
0.1 normal ball python
0.2 3-toed box turtles
2.3 eastern box turtles
0.0.5 3-striped mud turtle
1.0 northern diamondback terrapin
2.1 tiger salamander
1.1 red-sided garter
1.0 anerythristic red-sided garter
1.1 Iowa snow plains garter
1.1 Het butter stripe cornsnake
0.1 anerythristic motley cornsnake

What is a window well???

When you have a basement and the windows are partially underground, there is a metal partition outside of that window that holds the soil back from caving into the window, it creats a "well" 2-3 ft deep. The salamanders walking the edge of the foundation fall in and then they can't climb out. Perhaps you live in an area with alot of bedrock or other reason where houses have to be build on a slab or other, in which case there are no basements below ground and no "window wells".
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Upon catching her breath she took a deep gulp and said,"you certainly have been blessed with an impressive set of regius's"
1.0 pastel Python regius
0.1 mojave Python regius
0.1 normal Python regius
0.2 Terrapene carolina thriunguis
2.3 Terrapene carolina carolina
1.4 Kinosternon baurii
1.0 Malaclemys terrapin terrapin
2.1 Ambystoma tigrinum
1.1 Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis
1.0 anerythristic Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis
1.1 Iowa snow Thamnophis radix
1.1 heterozygous for amelanistic,carmel, and stripe Pantherophis guttatus
0.1 anerythristic motley Pantherophis guttatus

Oh okay. I haven't seen one of those in years. I live in N.H./Ma and we don't have problems with having to hold the soil from the windows in the lower levels of the houses.
Thanks for the response.

Good to see people out there are actually making a difference. This is the additude that more people need to adopt. Sounds like you significantly helped this local population.

Were they all Tiger Salamanders? Do you have any photos?
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Jon Wedow
Sharp Dressed Snakes

Wow neat story glad you relocated them. I used to live in Long Island NY we had salamanders though none after they sprayed for mosquitoes .
They were tiny brown types no color not sure what type . either way glad you relocated them