A damp morning in the Euganean Hills
It was a late-autumn morning and it had rained all night. The air was cool, the undergrowth was still dripping and the leaves on the ground were glossy with rain: perfect conditions for going out to look for amphibians.
So I set off for my beloved Euganean Hills. With amphibians, timing matters as much as the place: they come out mostly at dawn or dusk, and only when it’s damp. At this time of year they are getting ready to spend the winter under shelter, and in spring they will move towards the water to breed.
That morning, among the wet leaves, there she was: the fire salamander.
How to identify it
The fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra) is hard to mistake: it has a glossy black body splashed with bright yellow. Every individual has a different pattern, like a fingerprint.
An adult usually measures between 15 and 20 centimetres. It has a sturdy body, short legs and a rounded tail. Behind the eyes are two prominent glands, the parotoids.
Those bright colours are a warning to predators. Its skin produces an irritating, unpleasant substance: that’s why the salamander moves calmly and has no need to run away.
Where it lives and when to look for it
The fire salamander loves cool, shady broadleaf woods with chestnut, hornbeam and oak, ideally close to streams or springs of clean water. In the Euganean Hills you can find it in the dampest valleys and on wooded north-facing slopes.
By day it stays hidden under stones, fallen logs, roots or in other animals’ burrows. It comes out mainly at night, at dawn and at dusk, and almost only when the ground is wet.
That’s why the best time to look for it is right after rain, very early in the morning or at nightfall. In dry weather you can walk for hours without seeing a single one.
From winter to spring
With the first cold spells, usually between November and March, the salamander goes into hibernation. It spends the winter in a frost-free refuge: a hollow in the ground, a crack between rocks, the space under a stump.
Unlike frogs and toads, it doesn’t lay its eggs in water. Mating takes place on land and the eggs develop inside the female’s body.
In spring the female reaches a pool or a stream and releases fully formed larvae straight into it, often several dozen. The larvae have external gills and a small pale spot at the base of each leg. After a few months in the water they lose their gills and come out onto land as tiny salamanders.
It is a long-lived animal: in the wild it can live for more than twenty years.
Photographing it with respect
The fire salamander is a protected species and should be left where you find it. Here are a few rules I always follow:
- Don’t touch it. Our skin is dry and warm and can damage its delicate skin. Its secretions also irritate the eyes and mouth.
- Don’t move it to get a better background. Change your shooting position instead.
- Put back any stones and logs you lift, exactly as they were.
- No direct, repeated flash. The soft light of a cloudy morning is enough and makes the colours look more natural.
- Walk carefully on paths on rainy evenings, when amphibians are crossing them.
Every encounter with the fire salamander is a small gift from the woods. That morning in the Euganean Hills reminded me that to see certain things, you have to get up early and not be afraid of getting wet.
