Salamanders come in variety of shapes, sizes

The salamander you see here is only one of possibly 300 or more species found in North America. Salamanders come in a large variety of sizes and colors. Similar to lizards and sometimes called "sallies," they have smooth, scaleless, moist skin and soft toes with no claws.

Salamanders can be difficult to identify, and I have not positively identified this one. Although I believe it to be a small-mouth salamander, it is very close in appearance to the streamside salamander. Both of these species are from the mole salamander family. If identified as a streamside salamander, this would be a rare find because the streamside is not listed as living west of the Mississippi River but has been found in western Kentucky.

The salamander I photographed here was accidentally unearthed as I pulled weeds from a woodland flower garden. Because it kept crawling under leaves it was difficult to satisfactorily photograph. With wet hands to protect its skin, I held it to get this photo. The biggest threat to salamander survival is loss of habitat such as draining of wetlands.

Through the Woods is a weekly nature photo column by Aaron Horrell.