They do in fact excrete the mucous. This past October while out doing a survey one day, I was able to catch 18 (and had another 8-10 slip through my hands). None of them excreted mucous during the initial capture but one animal did excrete a noticeable amount during PIT tag implantation.

I will say that they are quite possibly the neatest herp we have in North America IMHO. I'm not really a salamander enthusiast, yet I found these creatures to be as interesting as timber rattlesnakes and eastern hognose snakes.

MH

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