It was several decades ago, when most of Florida's caves were open to human intrusion, that I first met Florida's little blind salamander.



A friend took me to cave (that I then thought huge) in Calhoun County. It was by far the biggest cave I had ever been in, and soon after entering I was not at all sure that I really wanted to be there. But I had been told that it was a prime locale for the little Georgia blind salamander, Haideotriton wallacei, a ghostly pale neotenic species that I badly wanted to see.

After I entered I stood contemplating the all surround darkness and probably would have continued standing had not one of my companions (they were all spelunkers familiar with the cave) called from far ahead "Dick, there's one here. In fact, there's two. I'm going to turn my light out so I don't spook them."

I chose an area that looked like it would be easy to walk along and moved as quickly as possible towards the disembodied voice. Fortunately there were no forks or hidden chambers and soon I could see Ed standing quietly awaiting my arrival.

And I got to see the little plethodontid.

Today, although these salamanders have now been found in many additional underground sites, the closures of many locales to human intrusion has made it more difficult for field herpers and hobbyists to see them.

I'm glad that I had several opportunities.