Coeur d’Alene salamander
These little amphibians are small and slender, and they only grow to be about four inches long. They are grayish-black, with light colored speckles and they have a stripe down the middle of their body/back that is yellow. They look very similar to long-toed salamanders, except they have a yellow patch on their throats; long-toed salamanders do not.
The larvae of this species develop within the egg and consequently there are no free-living forms. The eggs are small, unpigmented, and are laid in a grape-like cluster. The egg cluster is attached to the underside of a rock or log via a single thread.
Habitat: As with all salamanders, the Coeur d’Alene salamander likes moist, dark areas. They love to live in springs or seepages, spray zones of waterfalls and on the edges of streams. They are only found in the northern parts of Idaho.
Food: These salamanders love insects too. They eat mostly aquatic (water-dwelling) insects.
Fun Facts: Salamanders hibernate. These amphibians retreat underground for winter, then emerge once weather warms in April and May. Then they go underground again from June to mid-September, emerge for fall rains, and then go back to hibernation once winter hits again.
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