Julia Ellis, Thomas P. Hughes School
Union County
Eastern tiger salamander. Union County. Julia Ellis
Eastern Tiger Salamander
Hi, everyone reading this, I wrote this essay to discuss a very important matter. See, I think that if about 98% of the animals that are or were on this wonderful planet are extinct, why wouldn't we work really hard to keep those left on this planet alive!? I want to talk about, me, the eastern tiger salamander. Sadly, my species is facing extinction.
I am a prehistoric creature. My ancestors were here with the dinosaurs, and it's amazing that our species survived this long. Soon we could be extinct and our living streak will be over. That almost happened in the 1970s when we had only 19 breeding sites left.
See, humans polluted and over-developed our habitat and the breeding ponds that are vital for us to survive. Fortunately, some people have made breeding ponds to raise my population. They moved masses of our eggs that were in ponds that were going to be destroyed when property was being developed. These ponds have to be clean and free of fish that eat our eggs, so like many other species we need a pond that is wet in the spring to allow for metamorphosis then dries up in the summer to keep fish out.
I am black with yellow blotches. But some of us are dark brown with olive blotches. Our bellies are yellow with some black mottling. We are the biggest salamanders in New Jersey. Males are about 20 cm. (about 8 in.) and females are 18 cm. (about 7 in.) But my friend was one of the biggest, 33 cm (13 in).
Like other mole salamanders, we can burrow easily because we have wide heads compared to our tiny snouts. Eastern tiger salamanders are good swimmers—good thing too because otherwise I would drown in a 2-4 foot deep breeding pond. I use my tail to steer in the water.
My breeding pond is great because it's in a forest, where it's easy to burrow and I live under a log. My soil is sandy which is everyone's favorite!
We hope to be off the endangered list soon. We would never have made it this far without human help. So we all say, "Thanks to all of you" who helped us. And don't forget, keep us from becoming extinct!!!
Written by: Julia Ellis
Thomas P. Hughes Elementary School, Berkeley Heights
Teacher: Mrs. Massa