How does it survive here??

[u/jfkf14]

I found this salamander in a hole in my yard in southwest Colorado. I know we have salamanders in lakes and wetlands around here but the closest water is a mile away and my yard is desert. I dug this hole recently in preparation for my cat passing soon and the only reason you see mud is because of a recent (rare) rainstorm.

Where did this guy come from? How could it survive in this normally very dry area? Should I do anything with it? I left it in the mud next to the hole.

[u/hatguy_21479]

Seasonal ponds. They're actually less likely to be near body's of water w fish in it like a lake.

[u/jfkf14 → u/hatguy_21479]

No seasonal ponds. Literally pinyon juniper desert with a small river about 1 mile away.

[u/CheeseMclovin → u/jfkf14]

Ditches. Doesn’t take much water

[u/Berdonkulous]

Some species of Salamander will actually migrate a few miles for seasonal breeding but it does take then some time to cover that distance.

If you have plants and shade on your land you'll have some amount of groundwater in the soil that they'll keep moist with via their burrowing.

I would double check your hole before you do any further work, they might decide to just go back in.

[u/Natrix2112]

The genus are called mole salamanders because they spend almost all of their time underground.

[u/Mental-Chapter6523]

Tiger /mole salamanders (ambystoma) in the SW spend most of their life hiding in mammal burrows and fissures. When there is a big spring storm they migrate large distances to ephemeral pools. They can live thirty years so they don't need to breed every year and can wait out most extended droughts. Saw some in the Guadalupe mountains in west Texas. Amongst agave and cacti.

[u/Last_Village_5718 → u/Mental-Chapter6523]

Wow thirty years!!! 🤩

[u/Mental-Chapter6523 → u/Last_Village_5718]

I guess that's in captivity. reported to be as long as 30-32 years for spotted and 25 for tiger salamanders.

[u/Berdonkulous → u/Mental-Chapter6523]

Damn where have you seen reports of 25 years for Tigers? Everything I've read says 15-20 max in captivity, 8-15 in the wild.

I've recently restarted my herp journey with a few tigers and thought I was up to date on info but I guess not.

[u/Agua_Verde]

Did he make it out of the bucket and back to the soil?

[u/WildWestJR]

I’m your neighbor to the north, we have them here in Wyoming as well where it’s even drier. They live underground in burrows dug by our many burrowing critters ( ground squirrels, prairie dogs, rabbits, etc.) it’s much cooler down there, wetter as well, water from rain will pool inside the burrows. And they come out at night when again it’s a lot cooler