What Is It?

• Through the darkness I sneak,
• Without a croak or a creak.
• It’s a puddle I seek,
• Where I’ll dance cheek to cheek.

Spotted Salamander

On rainy spring nights, spotted salamanders creep from their burrows in the woods and crawl to shallow, fish-free ponds. There, males and females swim together — some biologists call it a dance — then females lay globs of eggs on underwater plants. In a month, legless baby salamanders hatch out. Unlike their air-breathing parents, the little ones have gills and breathe water. By summer, they’ve grown legs and lungs, and leave the water to find a burrow of their own.