Salamanders in my backyard

Saturday we finally finished our new footpath so it was time to remove the remaining sand & gravel pile from our driveway. When we took up the black tarp from the mound we discovered a red backed salamander had made this place its home.

The sun was shining bright and hot for the first time in ages and I kept returning to the spot where the salamander took refuge- a short clump of weeds. After 15 minutes it was still in the same place- I decided to transplant it to the backyard because I didn't want to step on it. A couple of weeks ago I had cleared the french drain in our backyard of pine needles and had come across 3 or 4 salamanders living beneath the rocks in the damp, dark environment.

I managed to get the little guy on the shovel with some more weeds to hide in and quickly hurried to the backyard while trying to keep the salamander on the spade. There was shade in the back and still a little bit of water in the french drain from the rain days before. After a little encouragement the salamander made a break for it and leapt in to the pool of water and disappeared beneath the rocks. I was very pleased my transfer was successful!