Went out for a hike the other day and took a few pictures of the creatures in the woods with us. Everybody's favorite Vermont woodland creature an eft. This is the terrestrial juvenile stage of the Eastern Newt.
I stepped over this log and moved on. My wife stopped and called me back.
There was a toad hanging in the hollowed out, water filled section of this log. It is an Eastern American Toad Anaxyrus americanus link is to Vermont Fish and Wildlife site.
And a slug! I didn't even notice the slug until I was looking at the photos. The slug is a Leopard Slug Limax maximus link is to iNaturalist. Both perfectly camoflauged or at least well enough not to catch my eye 🙄
We continued on to a beautiful pond.
The water was crystal clear. This Eastern Newt is in a couple inches of water. This is the adult aquatic stage of the juvenile eft pictured above 🙂 There were also tad poles (no pictures 🙁)
And this interesting creature. Its an American Brook Lamprey Lethenteron appendix! I've never seen one before. The link is to the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department site. This is the immature ammocoetes stage. The milky white areas in the video are reflections of the clouds.