Hi everyone and welcome to Shenandoah National Park. My name is Ranger Margo.
We're here at one of our viewpoints on one of our high elevation trails in the park.
And I'm so excited to get to talk to you today about one of my favorite animals
the Shenandoah Salamander. Shenandoah National Park like all of the over 400 National Park sites
helps to protect these special places, what live inside them, and the stories of the past, present,
and future. Here in Shenandoah we help to protect over 300 different species of animals that live
here. We have over 200 different species of birds, over 50 kinds of mammals, over 40 kinds of fish,
26 different kinds of reptiles, and 24 different kinds of amphibians. Now, a lot of people are
really excited to get to see some of our larger animals, like a black bear or a white-tailed deer,
but it can be just as exciting to see some of those smaller animals when you're here, like our
amphibians. Animals like our toads, frogs, newts, and salamanders; those are amphibians. Animals
that need water or moisture in order to survive. Now, what do you think of when you hear amphibian?
Perhaps you think of something that you don't know much about but are excited to learn about today.
Perhaps you think of something slimy and gross. Perhaps you think of something really exciting
that you love to get to see. Share with someone near you or in our comments what you think of,
whether you like or don't like amphibians. Personally, I love amphibians. I like to think
about how they explore the land and the water just like I like to do. The Shenandoah Salamander is
extra special and important to Shenandoah National Park because it is endangered. Meaning that there
aren't very many of them in the world, so they're protected. It's also endemic, which means that it
only lives in one place in the entire world: right here in Shenandoah National Park. The Shenandoah
salamander lives only here. Looking out over this area think about your habitat or home. Where
do you live? How is it similar or different to Shenandoah? What do you need to live where you do?
The National Park Service helps to protect animals like the Shenandoah Salamander that
have very specific needs. The symbol of the National Park Service is this patch. Now,
like a flag that represents a country, or a logo that represents a company or a restaurant,
the patch shows a little bit of what we help protect in the National Parks.
The Shenandoah Salamander can also be thought of as a symbol of Shenandoah. And each part of
this patch on my arm shows some of what we need to protect to help protect the Shenandoah Salamander.
So let's take a look at each part of that patch and how it relates to the story of Shenandoah
and helping protect the Shenandoah Salamander. The bison represents wildlife or animals
that live in the National Parks, and the Shenandoah Salamander is an animal. Now,
it does lay about 13 eggs under rocks or logs, but it only does so every other year.
That and the fact that it's endangered means that there's not very many of these salamanders around.
They can also be hard to see because they're nocturnal. Meaning that they're most active
at night, not usually when people are out exploring these ecosystems. But they're also
pretty small. They only grow to about three to four inches or seven to ten centimeters in
length when they're fully grown. But if you are lucky enough to see some of these salamanders,
you might be able to identify them based on their color. They have two different color
phases. One is a dark phase where their whole back is a dark color, like a blackish gray.
But they also have a striped phase, and that's when they have a stripe on their back that
could be yellow-orange, red or somewhere in between, and it runs from their head
to their tail. But that stripe is pretty thin. They can get confused with a similar salamander:
the Red-backed salamander. That also has a yellow-orange or red colored stripe that runs
down its whole back, but it's a little bit wider. Taking what you've just learned, can you tell
which salamander is the Red-backed salamander and which is the Shenandoah Salamander?
The one on the left is the Red-backed salamander, and the one on the right is the Shenandoah
Salamander. But they're both salamanders with four legs and long thin bodies. Their eyes are
both in the front because they're predators, and they like to hunt. And they're in a damp
area where they can hide and stay moist, but the stripe on the back of the Shenandoah Salamander is
thinner. The Red-backed salamander has a thicker stripe and has more white spots on its underbelly.
But these salamanders can get confused because they can compete for some areas of space and food
even right here in Shenandoah. But that Red-backed salamander, it's a little more common to see
those. Shenandoah Salamanders where they live they aren't just interacting with salamanders.
In fact a lot of places they're the only thing like them around, and so they interact with
the other animals. They can even be prey for animals like the ring neck snake. Now
if a predator like the ring neck snake were to grab at the tail of a Shenandoah Salamander,
that salamander has an adaptation, or something to help it survive. It can actually
drop its tail. Remove it from its body and scurry away while the predator holds onto the tail. But
don't worry, it can also grow that tail back. And it can do the same thing with its toes.
Not only is it prey to some animals, it's also a predator. It has a head about the size of a pinky,
so what do you think that it could eat?
Well, it likes bugs, beetles, mites, and springtails. So it actually helps control these
populations in the areas that they live. In fact, if the Shenandoah Salamander were to disappear the
whole balance would be thrown off. Even something so small is so important to the ecosystem.
So it can actually help control the numbers of these mites, bugs, beetles, things like that.
That they eat when not many other things might eat them in that same area. And where are all
of these interactions happening? Well some of it is right here in these kinds of forests.
This tree on the patch represents this plant life; these forests like we have
here in Shenandoah that the Shenandoah Salamander might even be found in at these high elevations.
So the Shenandoah Salamander when it eats some of these bugs it returns some healthy soil to this
ground and burrows through it. Helping to churn up that soil it can help keep these forests healthy.
And the forest helps it as well by giving it cover to hide in and moisture, because remember:
amphibians need moisture to survive.
The snow and the lake on the patch represent the water in our National Parks that we help protect.
Now the Shenandoah Salamander needs moisture because it doesn't have lungs like you and me.
It breathes through its skin. Unlike other amphibians though, that get some of that
moisture from say a stream or a lake, the Shenandoah Salamander is terrestrial. This
means that it lives on land for its whole life, not in a lake or a stream even when it's young.
So where does it get its moisture from if it's up on a mountain like this? From the mountain air.
Now these mountains represent the geology. The mountains that we have like here in Shenandoah and
what we can do on them. Now the mountains here in Shenandoah are all pretty tall;
we are a mountaintop park. However, the Shenandoah Salamander only lives
at the tallest parts of three of the tallest peaks in Shenandoah. So it has a very small
range to live which means that it has adapted, changed in order to survive, to live not just
in the forest areas but even in these rocky areas like this talus slope behind me. It can find dark,
damp, cool areas in the spaces between these rocks. So these animals are really cool because
they've adapted to survive on these tall peaks. But that fog line, that cloud cover that covers
the peaks of these mountains, while they do help give these animals moisture to survive,
it doesn't go low enough for these animals to move from peak to peak. So it's like islands in the sky
where these animals live, making them all that much more rare and special. So
we have these mountains that they live on, but we also share these mountains as visitors;
taking trails like the one that I did to get here. So we have to remember that we share these spaces.
But we haven't always, because there is a past of the Shenandoah Salamander and of the Shenandoah
area itself. The arrowhead itself represents the history of these parks and everything in it,
as well as the stories yet to come. The Shenandoah Salamander can tell us stories of the past when
these mountains were taller and the climate was colder. Perhaps their range was bigger,
even connecting from one mountain peak to the next. Perhaps their population was even bigger
than it is today. What we do know is that they're still telling a story. The story of the park
today, and how they're involved in it. Now the Shenandoah Salamander, they live in an area of
the park that's affected by change, and if anything that they need changes too much,
they may not be able to survive. As climate change impacts these high elevation parts of the park,
the Shenandoah Salamander feels that. The fog line might move higher as these temperatures warm,
meaning that their range gets smaller and they have to move further up these mountains. As
that temperature warms other animals can move further up the mountains as well,
meaning that they have to compete more for space and food. And as that temperature warms,
things around them that grow on this land that they depend on to hide in and for moisture
might change as well. And so this area today might be changing, but that begs the question: what is
the future of our Shenandoah Salamander? Well, we are studying it today and what could happen in
the future. But you can play a part in that story as well. People play a role in climate change and
in protecting our National Parks, and you can help too. When you come to the National Park,
if you see a Shenandoah Salamander make sure that you leave it where it is and don't
touch it. Remember it breathes through its skin and the oils on our hands can be bad for it.
And it doesn't want to be touched. In fact, if you see the Shenandoah Salamander or any wildlife in
Shenandoah, make sure to give it space and to leave it where you find it. In its habitat and
home where it belongs. You can also help by staying on trails and protecting the habitat
that these animals live in. Even from home you can help. You can turn off water when you're not using
it. You can turn off lights when you leave a room. And you can even share this video to teach others
why protecting these places is so important, how they can help, and why this Shenandoah
Salamander is so amazing. Now we all have needs. The Shenandoah Salamander has found its needs here
in Shenandoah. And when you come here you can enjoy knowing that you are a part of the same
place that this amazing animal lives. And as you're coming through here you are now a part of
the same story that the Shenandoah Salamander has been telling; the past, present, and future of it
and this National Park. So thank you so much for joining me, learning more about the Shenandoah
Salamander, and exploring Shenandoah with me. If you have questions, feel free to ask and comment.
Feel free to share this video, and feel free to come visit us and see why this place is just so
special.