|
|
Article: Creatures of the Damp
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- September 11, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
|
Robert Jaeger leads the hunt through dense woods in
southwestern Virginia near Mountain Lake. Occasionally, he bends to
brush away dead leaves or poke into the rich tangle of organic
matter littering the forest floor.
His quarry is the small and elusive salamander. Though seldom
seen, salamanders are the most common land-dwelling vertebrate
(animal with a bony skeleton) in the United States. In some regions
of these Appalachian Mountains, their combined weight exceeds that
of all birds and mammals combined.
Jaeger lifts a rotting log and spots two thin, miniature dragons,
each with a red streak down its back. One salamander had been
lurking under one end of the log and the other at the ...