Red-backed Salamander

In addition to my writing and editing, which pays the bills, and my photography, which pays, well, just about for itself, I spend a lot of high-quality time volunteering as a naturalist, semi-scientist, and teacher. I'm currently working on helping with a couple of biodiversity surveys, and I'm gearing up for some guided nature hikes and environmental education classes. I don't seem to have trouble finding things to do. And one thing tends to lead to another. Case in point: in gearing up for teaching middle-schoolers about local salamanders, I realized that my photo collection was pretty thin on Red-backed salamanders. These are one of our most common vertebrates, and I used to find them under almost every log and rock in the woods. Not so this year. Today, I rolled about 20 objects, and based on past experience, I expected to find at least 15 Red-backeds. Instead, I found one. In place of Plethodon cinereus were what I think are invasive earthworms. Curious... and potentially a warning sign of deeper trouble.