Its permanent smile and delicate little toes will win your heart, once you take that first curious look. When people meet up with their first salamander they often call it a lizard, because salamanders have tails. But salamanders are amphibians, like frogs and toads. Their skin is smooth and moist. They cannot bite.
Lizards have dry, scaly skin like their relatives, the turtles and snakes.
There are no lizards in the Maritime Provinces. Salamanders are common. Nova Scotia has five species, while 336 species are known in the world. But because of their secretive way of life, most of us notice salamanders only in spring, when they wake up from winter hibernation and migrate to breeding ponds. Salamanders eat a variety of insects, worms, snails, spiders and slugs.