Journal Staff Writer

MARQUETTE — The migration of the blue-spotted salamander is set to start any day now in Marquette, but recent cold snaps and warm spells have put pressure on the salamanders.

The road around Presque Isle Park is closing at 8 p.m. every night until May 15 in anticipation of the salamander migration.

“Actually, the salamander migration has not started yet,” said Northern Michigan University Biology Department chair Jill Leonard. “It is certainly due to start, but one of the challenges is that nature does not follow our schedules. Each year, we know about when the migration will start, late March or early April, but its actual start date depends on the weather. We have been getting a lot of late winter cold weather and snow, which is preventing the animals from moving. It’s also not uncommon for some animals to move when there is a warm spell, but for there then to be a lull during a cold snap.”

A blue-spotted salamander is pictured during last year’s salamander migration. (Photo courtesy of Jill Leonard)

The salamanders have yet to start moving through Presque Isle, but the road will remain closed to prevent salamander deaths.

A few years ago, the road was reopened after an initial closure, due to the salamanders not migrating, and then the weather turned and salamanders were moving as cars were on the road.

As soon as the salamanders start moving, the NMU Biology Department will know.

“We will know right away because we have students in my volunteer program going out every night to check,” Leonard said. “They do a count at 10 p.m. and they will see when the salamanders start, likely even if there are just a couple of animals out, since 10 p.m. is a peak time for movement.”

The first two weeks are a prime time for salamander movement, but there are those that start early during the migratory period and those that start a bit late.

So salamanders can be seen on the road for over a month, and based on NMU data, the migration is finished by the beginning of May. Data is currently being collected by NMU students who were trained for the project.

“We actually trained over 200 students this year,” said Leonard. “Many are helping to count the salamanders and are already taking evening shifts to do those counts.

Others will help out when the salamanders start moving by serving as salamander stewards and interacting with the public.”

A common misconception is that a lot of salamanders are killed by pedestrians squishing them underfoot. Yet with the education efforts from NMU, no more than 10 salamanders are killed per year, in comparison with the hundreds killed in years prior to NMU’s involvement in the salamander migration. For this upcoming migration, NMU has new education materials for the public which will be distributed by the student stewards helping with the salamander migration.

“We have developed some new materials for the public,” said Leonard. “We will be passing out educational pamphlets that talk about the salamanders. We also have some stickers that are fun for people who chat with the stewards, and I also have one student who has an educational activity that she will be doing with the younger kids to help them understand why you should not pick salamanders up.

“My lab group is also doing a couple of new research projects which you might see. The most obvious one will be some students who are developing a photographic technique for determining salamander sex and morph … you might see our salamander photo booth out there which is just our setup for taking systematic photographs of the animals. This project is really important since we would like to be able to more easily (determine the) sex (of) the animals and determine whether they are species or hybrids so that we can look at differences in migration timing of these different groups.”

For those looking to see the salamanders, Leonard said a few key practices are important to guarantee the safety of the migrating amphibians. The most important is to use a real flashlight, as phone flashlights tend to be weaker in comparison and make it harder to see the salamanders. Other practices include staying on the road, as salamanders blend in with the off-road background quite well; touching them is not very safe, as the creatures excrete an irritating toxin from their skin if threatened; and using indirect light is best for pictures, as a bright sudden flash may be stressful for the animal.

Antonio Anderson can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 550. His email address is