SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – As the snow begins to melt in Central New York, different activities are becoming available for families. For example, Samantha Lloyd uses some of her spring evenings doing an unlikely job. The mother of three is a rescuer of salamanders.
“The first night that we did it, I did it with her, I think that I personally helped over a hundred. And I don’t even know what my kids did cause they were helping pick them up off the road and moving them cause the whole road is just covered,” Lloyd said.
On the roads of rural New York, thousands of salamanders are killed annually, but that number can be significantly reduced with some help from some friends. Lloyd is one of those companions. The homeschool mom works hard to on her live-saving mission because she says it’s our responsibility to create safe environment for these creatures.
“One semi can go through and it can kill hundreds and hundreds in five minutes. So, doesn’t make sense if humans would go down and kind of pick one of the road and put it on the other side,” Lloyd said.
This a unique hobby that requires very specific help from Mother Nature. The salamanders only come out when it is a certain temperature and amount of precipitation.
“The problem is it doesn’t start til 9:30 in April on a 45 degree night and it doesn’t start until 9:30 at night. It’s so dark and it has to be raining. That’s totally not what you do with a 10-year-old, an eight-year-old, and a four-year-old or a one-year-old. How’s that? But we did,” Lloyd said.
Unfortunately, there haven’t been many days like this yet in spring. The nights have either been filled with snowfall or clear skies. Those obstacles have kept the Lloyd family away from their amphibian friends and the group has only gone out once so far this season.
