White-spotted slimy salamander

I've never found these guys when I'm doing my searches at Huntley Meadows, but today I found three in the span of a few minutes! This particular one pictured was a whopper - 18.4 cm (7.2 inches) long, which is bigger than average, but unfortunately still doesn't beat the record length of 20.6 cm.

Anyways, if you ever pick up a slimy salamander, you will immediately understand where they get their name. They are very slimy and hard to get a hold on. However, they could also be appropriately named sticky salamanders because their slime is incredibly sticky and hard to wash off. I had to scrub my hands five times before I got off all the gunk. But I don't mind because it was so nice to see them! This one was by itself, but the other two I found were under a log together. Hopefully I hadn't interrupted anything intimate!