I vividly remember the first time I ever dug one of them up in the backyard as a little girl. I was completely mesmerized to find the sweetest, sleekest, most gentle little creature. A few years ago, I saw one in an aquarium at a nature preserve and I’ve prayed for one ever since.
So, I ran outside as fast as I could, grabbed a ladder and took on the adventure of claiming those salamanders as my very own. However, as soon as I looked down into this hole, I remembered one terribly, horrible thing. There are spiders down there.
I’m afraid the intensity to which I fear spiders exceeds the intensity to which I love salamanders. And this fear often turns into violent rampage-like behavior. My body goes into these convulsions, and I become a brutal tyrant while nothing is safe within smacking distance. (Just ask Brent.) So, I quickly ran to the door and called for Brent to come out and offer me some moral support. He so sweetly came. He’s such a good husband for me.
Much to my exhilaration, I found SEVEN salamanders! They were all wadded up into this big mass and I actually thought it was a snake at first. So, I yelled up to Brent, “I need you to ENCOURAGE me! I’m scared!!!” He stood there and laughed. And then he pretended like there was a spider about to get me. And then I yelled at him. And then I proceeded to gather up my salamanders and frogs, because I’m really weird like that.
I decided to kindly release the frogs into the wild.
However, I kept two salamanders. And I named them.
Hi Sally! Hi Mander! Hi Sally-Mander!
Mander has the coolest yellow spots. He enjoys cruising, snorkling and making google eyes at Sally.
Oh, and he likes eating centipedes and rolley-pollies.
This dude showed up as I was looking for bugs for my new found friends. Good thing he was too big for them to eat.
So, I asked Gideon which he liked better, frogs or salamanders?
He said frogs, and I asked him why?
To which he responded, “Because they eat like this!”
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