We homeowners are familiar with the birds, butterflies, squirrels, chipmunks, reptiles and other critters that inhabit our yards.  However, few of us realize that many of our backyards can be home to salamanders too.  One of the reasons for this is we rarely seen them.

       The salamander this Houston County homeowner discovered is known as the marbled salamander. It is one of the most commonly seen salamanders in Georgia backyards.  However, if you are going to see one of these secretive critters it will probably be on a rainy night from September through November at this time of the year, marbled salamanders migrate from their summer homes to nearby breeding sites.  When this happens, they show up in all sorts of places such on driveways, in carports and even in gardens and lawns.

       These small (about 3 inches long), harmless creatures live in a variety of woodlands across most of Georgia.  Here they make their home in the leaf litter blanketing the forest floor, beneath rotten logs, or in root or rodent holes.  Marbled salamanders occupy a summer home range measuring only about 17 yards in diameter.