Mr. Nature: Red-Backed Salamander

Really, I just don’t feel like writing nooze today. It’d just be more of the same old **** anyway, wouldn’t it?

Instead, let’s admire some of God’s handiwork–like, for instance, red-backed salamanders. Once upon a time you could find these little guys all over the place, you didn’t even have to go into the woods. Now it’s been years since I’ve seen one, even in the woods. I blame herbicides and pesticides for that: people love to drench their stupid lawns with chemicals.

Redbacks belong to a family of salamanders that’s been very common and successful in North America–the lungless salamanders. Yes, we said “lungless.” The embryos have lungs, the adults don’t. They breathe through their skin. God has not explained why He made them that way.

These pretty salamanders could be found under logs and rocks in people’s back yards and gardens, at the edge of the woods, on hillsides–any place where they could enjoy a moderately moist environment. There was always a temptation to take them for granted because they were so common.

And now, of course, we can’t seem to find any.