Four-toed Salamander (Hemidactylium scutatum), a Special Concern species, prefers hardwood forests with ephemeral ponds, alder thickets, and sedge meadows, and to a lesser degree, conifer swamps. It overwinters from November through late-March by burrowing underground to avoid freezing. Mating can occur in fall or spring at breeding ponds, seepage pools, or springs. In April, females move to microhabitats of dense mosses, usually sphagnum, overhanging the water's edge or dense mosses on downed woody debris overlying the water. Four-toed salamanders will also nest in inundated sedge tussock wetlands when mosses are not present. This species' unique nesting microhabitats appear to limit their abundance. Females remain with their eggs until they hatch in late-May or June. Larvae drop into the water where they live until transforming in about six weeks. Four-toed salamanders remain active through November.
