Thanksgiving Day Salamander

This is the salamander I discovered under a pile of leaves on my deck on Thanksgiving Day. Fortunately for him, I had used my foot instead of a rake in removing the leaves, and I did not kick the little creature. Very slowly, with my coaxing, the salamander made his way into the crack between two floor boards, where he remained for quite some time.

As much as I would like to assist Ponzo in writing more posts to be scheduled in the future, I am exhausted after doing some leaf-raking. More like leaf-walking and leaf-pushing, since I don't bag the leaves. I just walk and push them downhill into the woods. Still, I feel the pain. I don't care what anybody says, raking (or walking or pushing) leaves is hard work. That being said, I shall now fix a cup of hot cider and plop myself into my recliner to watch a movie.