WEBVTT - Why Does the Hellbender Salamander Need Our Help?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff Lauren vocal Bomb. Here picture a remote freshwater

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<v Speaker 1>stream somewhere in the eastern United States. The water is cool,

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<v Speaker 1>there's a reasonably fast current, and the bottom is littered

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<v Speaker 1>with big flat rocks. Sounds peaceful, doesn't it. What you're

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<v Speaker 1>imagining is a perfect environment for trout and for something

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<v Speaker 1>else too. Every so often, anglers who cast their lines

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<v Speaker 1>in such places wind up catching North America's biggest salamander.

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<v Speaker 1>This thing leaves an impression. Specimens measuring twees long that's

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<v Speaker 1>seventy three have been documented, and the beefiest adults wagh

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<v Speaker 1>four to five pounds that's about two to two and

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<v Speaker 1>a half kilos. These four legged amphibians have compressed heads

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<v Speaker 1>and torsos, meaning that, judging by outward appearance, could think

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<v Speaker 1>someone had squished these critters flat with a rolling pin.

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<v Speaker 1>Another key attribute is their browned to grayish skin, which

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<v Speaker 1>hangs noticeably loose around their flanks. Early settlers didn't know

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<v Speaker 1>what to make of these guys. Baffled by their appearance,

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<v Speaker 1>some folks began calling them snot otters, devil dogs, or

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<v Speaker 1>mud devils. The species wouldn't receive its formal scientific name

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<v Speaker 1>Crypto branches alleganiensis until eight o three, but nowadays most

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<v Speaker 1>people know this strange salamander as the hell bender. Hellbenders

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<v Speaker 1>are divided into two subspecies. Northern Arkansas and southern Missouri

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<v Speaker 1>are the home of the endangered Ozark hell bender. The

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<v Speaker 1>eastern hellbender has a broader distribution, having spread itself across

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<v Speaker 1>the Greater Appalachian region and parts of the Midwest, though

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<v Speaker 1>sadly it's also got conservationists worried. Some amphibians are equally

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<v Speaker 1>at home on land and in the water, but hellbenders

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<v Speaker 1>are more or less totally aquatic. Their skin absorbs oxygen,

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<v Speaker 1>pulling it straight out of the water. That leaves hellbenders

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<v Speaker 1>at the mercy of pollutants and the excess silt and

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<v Speaker 1>runoff dumped into their streams by forest clearing projects. Sure

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<v Speaker 1>it doesn't help. One report published in two thousand seven

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<v Speaker 1>by the US Fish and Wildlife Service estimated that the

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<v Speaker 1>ozark hellbender will become functionally extinct by the year twenty

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<v Speaker 1>twenty six in less protective measures are taken. As of

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<v Speaker 1>twenty nineteen, it was still classified as endangered by the

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<v Speaker 1>US Fish and Wildlife Service, which has said that, in

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<v Speaker 1>some good news, most populations of the Eastern hellbender are

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<v Speaker 1>not in danger of extinction and therefore do not warrant

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<v Speaker 1>listing under the Endangered Species Act. To help boost populations

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<v Speaker 1>of the Ozark hellbender, the St. Louis Zoo teamed up

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<v Speaker 1>with the Missouri Department of Conservation and established a successful

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<v Speaker 1>breeding program in twenty eleven, and just last year, Pennsylvania

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<v Speaker 1>raised awareness about this wonderful species by naming the Eastern

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<v Speaker 1>hellbender its official state amphibian. Maybe such efforts will improve

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<v Speaker 1>the salum enders pr There's a pervasive belief that the

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<v Speaker 1>hellbender has a venomous bite, but this is untrue. The

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<v Speaker 1>hellbender wield no venom, and despite rumors to the contrary,

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<v Speaker 1>the amphibians do not hurt game fish populations. Crawfish make

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<v Speaker 1>up over the hellbender's diet. Other potential prey items include tadpoles,

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<v Speaker 1>smaller salamanders, and small fish. The creatures are most active

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<v Speaker 1>at night. They spend their days taking refuge under submerged

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<v Speaker 1>logs or stream bottom rocks. Hellbenders avoid humans, but they

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<v Speaker 1>will aggressively defend their territories against fellow members of their species.

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<v Speaker 1>So unless you are a rival salamander, a potential mate,

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<v Speaker 1>or a yummy crawfish, these beasties would just as soon

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<v Speaker 1>leave you alone. Disposition wise, they couldn't be less hellish.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe it's time to start calling them heckbenders. Today's episode

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<v Speaker 1>was written by Mark Fancini and produced by Tyler Clang.

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<v Speaker 1>For more on this and lots of other heckish topics,

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<v Speaker 1>visit how stuff works dot com. Green Stuff is a

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<v Speaker 1>production of my heart Radio. For more podcasts in my

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