Bebop and I went for walkies in the garden this afternoon.
I found (and turned over) a water-collector (it's the base of a picnic table umbrella; the umbrella has been taken down and the picnic table moved but the base was collecting rainwater) – it's almost mosquito season.
Anyway, under the thing was a worm or two …and then I realized that one (two?) of the worms didn't seem to be worms…not slimy enough. They had… heads? eyes? Tiny brown snakes??
So I very gently nudged one with a long grass stem and it turns out they were a pair of very small, skinny, brownish red salamanders. They had very small legs. I could have run in for the camera but wasn't sure if I could get close enough for a shot. Oh well, I missed it; let them go find a new damp place to live.
I just looked on the web and I'm pretty sure these were California Slender Salamanders; this is what they looked like.
Slightly Off KIlter 