Coastal giant salamander!!!! dicamptodon tenebrosus. Third of this genus I’ve ever seen in a terrestrial life stage, and a somewhat smaller adult than either of the other ones( but still a beast!!!)
So I went to Oregon because of the rains that just happened, because it felt like the only chance in a long while after not going this winter (it’s a long drive ou north), considering the passing rains.
On our way up we didn’t quite make it up to Oregon so we checked into a hotel and went looking for a road to cruise and some culverts to look for stuff in. Walking up one of those I spotted it and it got away from me (slippery little bastard) and I was so bummed. on our way down like 3-4 days latter I insisted we went back to that spot and I RELOCATED IT LIKE 4 FEET FROM WHERE IT GOT AWAY . This time I had a tupperware ready for it to drop into instead of relying solely on my hands
The only other two I’ve seen of this genus (California giant Sal is the one in hand (dicamptodon enastus)) (the other is the same species as the rest of the post) (both about the same size of eachother)
I can’t recommend picking salamanders up unless you know what you’re doing, not that these guys will particularly let you. If you do your hands should be clean, lotion or soapless, and rubbed in the dirt a bit. If you’re looking for salamanders your hands are probably already rubbed in the dirt a bit just by the nature of it all
