Fire salamander

Fire salamanders are large, sturdily built terrestrial salamanders that can grow up to 19 cm long. They are easily recognizable by their black, shiny skin with yellow spots that sometimes blend into each other and can form stripes. They have a cylindrical body, a tail that is shorter than their body, and short legs. Their head is flat and broad, with protruding eyes.

Fire salamanders are mainly active at night and retreat during the day under stones, dead wood or leaf litter. Except when it rains, in which case they sometimes show themselves during the day. They also hibernate, but if it's warm enough (from 5°C) they sometimes interrupt it to go hunting. Fire salamanders eat snails, spiders, centipedes, beetles and earthworms. If they feel threatened, they can spray a poisonous white liquid outside, up to more than 20 cm away! That poison is not dangerous to humans, but be careful if you want to touch one...

Fire salamanders are very rare in Flanders. They need a cool, moist environment with plenty of shade and dead wood, such as a beech forest. They are terrestrial animals, yet they also need water for their young in their immediate environment. It may stand still or flow weakly, like the Kapittelbeek, as long as it is clear and contains a lot of oxygen. Here in the Haakstraat they will find all those things together! Sometimes Fire salamanders also live in coniferous forests with lots of moss and ferns ... or even in gardens! They always live in the same place and their environment is no larger than a few dozen square meters.

The mating season of Fire Salamanders runs from March to October. Unlike their counterparts, the amphibians, the eggs of the Fire Salamander are fertilized while they are still in the female's body. This is where the development of eggs into larvae begins. When those eggs are sufficiently developed, the female will deposit them in the water. Stagnant areas of streams as well as flooded tire tracks are eligible. Because the mother salamander is a terrestrial animal that is very bad at swimming, she only goes into the water with her abdomen.

The eggs she deposits, between 10 and 60, hatch immediately upon laying or very soon after. That's called "egg viviparous". The larvae of the Fire Salamander are 2.5 to 3.5 cm long and mainly eat small aquatic animals such as amphipods, mayfly larvae and damselflies. Four months later, the metamorphosis from larvae to salamander takes place and the young leave the water. Then it takes another 2 to 4 years before they have become adult Fire Salamanders. That may seem like a long time, but Fire Salamanders can live up to 25 years!

BibBeersel