Cheat Mountain Salamander West Virginia Magnet

From National Wildlife Federation website: These salamanders are named for their presence in West Virginia’s Cheat Mountain, part of the Allegheny Mountains—the only region where this salamander can be found. They live in red spruce and yellow birch forests, where an individual Cheat Mountain salamander rarely leaves its own 48-square-foot territory. These salamanders keep to forests with moist ground cover for a very important reason: They lack lungs and instead breathe through their skin and membranes in their mouth and throat. When the weather gets too hot and dry, the salamanders must find cover to survive. As the temperature drops in the winter, Cheat Mountain salamanders retreat underground to stay warm.