My first hellbender
Two and a half years ago, I caught my first hellbender in the NC arboretum. We were coming back from Buffalo and stopped at the NC arboretum to hike. Half way into the hike when I had only caught a few small 2-3 inch salamanders, Dad thought out loud, “maybe if we looked under bigger rocks, in the deeper water, we will catch bigger salamanders!” Thus we looked under bigger rocks, in deeper water. There were several rocks that we had no luck with. Then the water was not clearing, a sign of something moving under a rock. “Yes,” I thought, then a big crayfish crawled out. I was disappointed, but kind of optimistic because big crayfish are a hellbenders main source of food. The next rock was almost too heavy for Dad to pick up! He struggled to pick it up, but it was worth it! The water was murky... a huge hellbender appeared from the mud, and I (a little hesitant) grabbed it. I was so excited I thought I was dreaming. Though I never measured it, it looked two plus feet.
1. Hellbenders are dirty green brown
2. Hellbenders have tiny eyes and rely on little flaps of skin that run along their sides to sense their surroundings
3. Hellbenders can grow to be 28 inches
Two and a half years ago, I caught my first hellbender in the NC arboretum. We were coming back from Buffalo and stopped at the NC arboretum to hike. Half way into the hike when I had only caught a few small 2-3 inch salamanders, Dad thought out loud, “maybe if we looked under bigger rocks, in the deeper water, we will catch bigger salamanders!” Thus we looked under bigger rocks, in deeper water. There were several rocks that we had no luck with. Then the water was not clearing, a sign of something moving under a rock. “Yes,” I thought, then a big crayfish crawled out. I was disappointed, but kind of optimistic because big crayfish are a hellbenders main source of food. The next rock was almost too heavy for Dad to pick up! He struggled to pick it up, but it was worth it! The water was murky... a huge hellbender appeared from the mud, and I (a little hesitant) grabbed it. I was so excited I thought I was dreaming. Though I never measured it, it looked two plus feet.
1. Hellbenders are dirty green brown
2. Hellbenders have tiny eyes and rely on little flaps of skin that run along their sides to sense their surroundings
3. Hellbenders can grow to be 28 inches