Burning Silo

Last night, we spent part of our evening photographing Mudpuppies (Necturus maculosus), a large, entirely aquatic salamander, on location at Oxford Mills, Ontario. We were joined by Dr. Frederick Schueler, and daughter, Jennifer, of the Bishops Mills Natural History Centre, who have been studying the Necturus at this location on Kemptville Creek for the past seven years. The BMNHC conducts a weekly Mudpuppy Night each Friday evening from mid-October until the spring thaw (subject to weather and creek conditions).

In winter, the Mudpuppies are found just below the Oxford Mills dam in an area where the cold, clear water of Kemptville Creek flows between the flat stone of the riverbed and sheets of ice several centimeters above. The following rather dark photo gives some idea of the location — a stone dam with heavy ice formations in the gates, and water gushing through to flow through the area where Mudpuppies wander after dark as they search for food (frogs, tadpoles, small fish, crayfish) around the rock ledges beneath the sheets of ice. They are capable of walking in a fairly strong current, and at times, they switch from walking to swimming by holding their legs against their bodies as propel themselves forward with fish-like movements of body and tail. I made this short movie clip several years ago and, while not great, it illustrates the motion of the Mudpuppy as it walks and swims (the clip is about 30 seconds long, approx. 1.2 MB and requires QuickTime to view).

As for photographic conditions — the water is frigid - often around 0 C, with air temperature usually much colder in winter. Last night, the water in the aquarium which we used to hold two Mudpuppies was on the point of freezing. Thin wafers of ice crystals formed in the water and almost immediately coated the glass sides of the aquarium. However, I did manage to get a few decent photos which may be seen in my online gallery on Pbase. — bev

Tags: Necturus maculosus, Mudpuppy, Bishops Mills Natural History Museum, Oxford Mills