Snow fed mountain streams may have very few active salamanders during the fall and winter months, whereas coastal plain ponds and seeps, which hold and gather daytime sunlight, may have more activity. If you still hear peeper frogs at night, you may be able to find a salamander or two. In drought conditions, some species burrow underground and remain hidden in damp dens until the rains come. Plethodon glutinosus is especially susceptible to dry conditions and burrows several feet deep during droughts. Salamanders have a smooth or warty skin where lizards have rough, scaly skin.
Salamanders have no true claws, and no visible ear holes.
Lizards do not have gills at any stage of their life. Lizards have rounded tails. If collecting more than 25 individuals of a species of amphibian in North Carolina, a permit is needed. Contact the NC Wildlife Resources Commission for the form. Species too endangered to be allowed to be collected are noted here by federally endangered, state endangered, or threatened special status.