Thanks to Fred Harer, I found this young Santa Cruz Black Salamander by looking under bark and stones in a muddy seepage. We had come to primarily look for California Giant Salamanders, but took a little time to hunt for this subspecies that I had not yet seen. The closeup shows the little bits of debris that one usually finds clinging to a mud-dwelling salamander. The salamander took a brief bath in the salamander spa before posing for the glamour shot on the leaf.

My friend Fred Harer uncovered this salamander in a mucky seepage along the stream that flows through this park. Another day, another salamander poised on a leaf.