ReportWire

Tag: red-backed salamander

  • Red-backed salamander gets support from students to become DC’s official amphibian – WTOP News

    Red-backed salamander gets support from students to become DC’s official amphibian – WTOP News

    Fourth grade students from Powell Elementary School testified Wednesday to the D.C. Council in support of a bill that would make the red-backed salamander the official amphibian of D.C.

    Natural closeup on a bright red Western redback salamander, Plethodon vehiculum sitting on the ground.(Getty Images/Wirestock)

    Fourth grade students from Powell Elementary School testified Wednesday to the D.C. Council in support of a bill they helped launch last year that would make the red-backed salamander the official amphibian of D.C.

    “In the pandemic it was boring, so we went herping in Rock Creek Park. ‘Herping’ is looking for reptiles and amphibians, then we found red-backed salamanders,” said Powell student, Max Girshick.

    The tiny red-backed salamander is typically found in leaf litter or under logs in the city’s woodlands. They’re the most abundant vertebrae in eastern American forests.

    “Salamanders help address one of D.C.’s worst problems — (like) mosquitoes. I think we can all agree that mosquitoes are terribly annoying and that we all hate mosquito bites. Guess what … salamanders eat mosquito larvae, so they help reduce the mosquito population,” testified Powell student Shula Toich.

    It was Girshick’s Rock Creek Park outings that led to the idea of proposing the red-backed salamander as D.C.’s official amphibian.

    D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson questioned the students on why they chose to study the red-backed salamander and propose it as the city’s official amphibian when there are other small amphibians here that also eat mosquitoes, like the red-spotted newt.

    “The red-backed salamander’s red stripes emulate the D.C. flag,” said Milo Evans Snyder. The students also told the council there are far more red-backed salamanders in D.C. than there are red-spotted newts.

    “While this bill was introduced by me and my fellow colleagues, it was researched and written by the students of Powell Elementary. … I am proud of your dedication in what started as an idea and made into a reality and getting so many adults to pay attention along the way,” said Ward 4 Council member Janeese Lewis George.

    The council is expected to have its first vote on the red-backed salamander bill as soon as October and could face a final vote by the end of the year.

    Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.

    © 2024 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

    Dick Uliano

    Source link

  • Most common salamander in the DC area proposed as city’s official amphibian – WTOP News

    Most common salamander in the DC area proposed as city’s official amphibian – WTOP News

    The D.C. Council is considering a bill to designate the red-backed salamander — aka the Plethodon cinereus — as the official “state amphibian of the District of Columbia.”

    This page contains a video which is being blocked by your ad blocker.
    In order to view the video you must disable your ad blocker.

    DC Council considers naming city’s official amphibian

    The D.C. Council is considering a bill to designate the red-backed salamander — aka the Plethodon cinereus — as the official “state amphibian of the District of Columbia.”

    Students at Powell Elementary School who studied the red-backed salamander proposed that the D.C. Council designate the animal the city’s official amphibian because of its red strips that reflect the city’s flag.

    If the bill becomes law, the official state amphibian would take its place alongside other official D.C. symbols, such as the Wood thrush, the Scarlett oak, and the cherry.

    The bill will be heard in a Committee of the Whole meeting in September, with a possible vote in the fall.

    The red-backed salamander is most commonly found in the city’s woodlands, including Rock Creek Park. They’re the most abundant vertebrate in eastern Americans forests — even more than deer.

    “They’re a small animal, typically four inches long, long tail, four legs, moist skin,” said Addison Wynn, museum technician on the collections management staff at the Smithsonian’s Museum Support Center in Suitland.

    Wynn’s area of expertise is salamanders, particularly eastern North American salamanders such as the red-backed.

    The Museum Support Center is the research and collections hub of the Smithsonian Institution. The facility is home to more than 31 million objects.

    “The red-backed salamander is the most common salamander in the area … in the Eastern United States. There are, in the right habitat, up to 1,000 or more per acre,” Wynn said.

    Addison Wynn, museum technician on the collections management staff at the Smithsonian’s Museum Support Center in Suitland, holds a jar of preserved red-backed salamanders. (WTOP/Dick Uliano)

    The slimy creatures are a bit elusive and not so easy to see, although there are plenty of them. That’s because they don’t hang out in the sunlight, unlike lizards.

    “Typically, they live underground. They’re very secretive, come up to the surface only at night. And even then, under specialized conditions. They come up on the surface at night less when there’s a full moon, for example, because the moonlight would allow predators to see them more. … They just live secretive lives underground, coming to the surface rarely,” Wynn said.

    The passing of the bill would also bring forth “Amphibian Week” from May 5-11, which would encourage D.C. residents to get outside and “turn over a fallen log and search for a red-backed salamander.”

    Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.

    © 2024 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

    Dick Uliano

    Source link