Check out this incredible video of the discovery!

Be sure to read the full article at National Geographic for more amazing photos and the full story!

The first one is of Indi the Blue Tongue Skink basking under her new full spectrum sun lamp that was donated by Nature Center volunteer Amy Lord–THANK YOU Amy!  I cannot think of a better way to spend the winter than flat out like a lizard basking.

Now check out Hayward the Gray ratsnake resting in one of the Ratsnake Skyway tubes–isn’t he a beautiful snake!

Take a look at Fiona–our newest snake–a beautiful Royal Python (aka Ball Python).  She was donated to us by Savannah from the WNC Nature Center in Asheville, NC.  THANK YOU Savannah!

And here is Gandalf the Canebrake rattlesnake resting under his log.  (sorry about the dirty glass.)

Check out Penny the Copperhead in her cave.

Finally there is Gollum the Eastern Hellbender who is squeezed into his favorite notch in the rocks.  It looks like his is uncomfortable but Hellbenders love to jam themselves in tight crevices–it makes them feel secure.

If you would like to visit all of the animals in the Earthshine Nature Center please drop me an email and we can schedule a time for a visit.   –Steve

For the full effect view the video full screen.

Aurora 2012 from Christian Mülhauser on Vimeo.

Spotted Salamanders are fairly common in the forests of Western North Carolina but they are seldom seen because of their nocturnal underground lifestyle.  They spend most of their lives in underground burrows searching for invertebrates to feed on such as worms and insects.   They come to the surface in the late winter when the first warm rains of spring lure them onto the surface in search of mates and their egg laying sites–predator free vernal ponds and pools hidden in the forest.  Once they find their pools–sites they return to yearly–they mate and then the females lay large masses of eggs.  The eggs of the spotted salamander are contained within a rather firm yet jellylike mass that protects the developing embryos within.  The egg mass is often covered with a specialized algae that shares a symbiotic relationship with the developing salamander larva.  The larva exhale carbon dioxide which directly benefit the algae and the algae photosynthesize the suns energy creating an oxygen rich environment which gives the embryos the perfect environment for growth.  Amazing!

Count yourself lucky if you are in the right place at the right time to see Spotted Salamanders in the wild–they are a true treasure to behold.

If you have temporary ponds on your property that often fill up in the late winter and spring then dry up in the summer then you may have Spotted Salamanders!  Please consider leaving the ponds intact for the benefit of wildlife that need them such as the Spotted Salamander.

For more information and beautiful photos of Spotted Salamanders and their egg masses check out my friend Alan’s posting on the Wandering Herpetologist Blog.

If you would like to meet our salamanders just email me and I will gladly arrange a visit.

Watch it now before the internet is censored next week and Youtube is shut down.  If you care about keeping the internet FREE and not a crime to use then please fight the SOPA and PIPA act.  Follow this link to read more about SOPA and PIPA and then do all you can to help stop the censorship of the internet.  If the bill becomes a law then educational websites like Earthshine Nature and this blog could be censored and shut down even though we are an educational resource site.  Shortly after I post this article Earthshine Nature Programs will be joining in on the blackout in protest of the SOPA and PIPA act.  Our freedom of speech and information is being targeted so we must stand up and fight for the right to share quality information with each other for the greater good.  If you host a website please consider blacking it out today to join in on the protest.

“Scientists in Borneo have discovered a new species of frog, and think that it may be one of the world’s smallest.

Although the frog, (the Matang Narrow-mouthed Frog) Microhyla nepenthicola, is no bigger than the size of pea when fully grown, it lives fearlessly inside and around carnivorous pitcher plants in Malaysian rain forests.

“The tiny amphibian was officially introduced to the world on Wednesday, but researchers say that they have been hiding in plain view for more than a century.

“I saw some specimens in museum collections that are over a hundred years old,” co-discoverer Indraneil Das said in a statement.

Originally, many scientists thought that the frogs were simply juveniles of other species, but now realize they are actually adults of this newly discovered microspecies.

Despite its tiny size, the frog produces a loud, distinct croak, which is why scientists were finally able to locate it.

“You often get tiny frogs making quite a noise,” said Robin Moore, a herpetologist who was not involved in the discovery told NationalGeographic.

Moore is heading a Conservation International project to rediscover a hundred species of “lost” amphibians that have been declared extinct within the past decade.