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Tonight is the night the male salamander makes the female salamander a woman.
The sweet, sweet sounds of spotted salamanders making lizard-like love will pierce the air tonight at Sugarcreek MetroPark, 4178 Conference Road, Bellbrook.
Don't take our word for it. You can witness the wonder of nocturnal amphibian lovemaking in person.
http://youtu.be/SEuKkcX1uKA
The public is invited to join Five Rivers MetroPark tonight to experience salamander mating season between 9 and 10 p.m. tonight, March 11.
Mating season lasts a few days, but park regularly closes at 8 p.m. through April, so humans can't see it outside of tonight.
Bring a flashlight and a good disposition.
Joshua York, a MetroPark’s naturalist and education supervisor, called it a unique opportunity to see the salamanders that are rare in this part of Ohio due to development.
"You rarely get to see them other than breeding season, when they migrate to these temporary pools, where you can see them in the water,” York said. “Most of their life they spend in the ground, eating earthworms and other creatures.”
How does salmander sex work?
Compared to us primates, the lovemaking process seems otherworldly for these gray and blue creatures with enticing yellow spots.
York said that basically, the male salamander deposits his spermatophore, a capsule containing sperm, in a nice place. He goes up to a female salamander he likes and nudges her in that special come-hither way.
http://youtu.be/cqkwykA4iFw
"If the female likes the way he nudges it, she will follow him," York said.
http://youtu.be/hiaq0ah7K4U
The magic happens when she picks his spermatophore up with her cloacae (aka her "lady bits").
“There is no body parts touching each other,” York said.
Hawt.
http://youtu.be/5ZARV7rJy-4
Want to go?
WHAT: Salamander Mating Season
WHEN: 9-10 p.m. March 11
WHERE: Sugarcreek MetroPark, 4178 Conference Road, Bellbrook
COST: Free
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