Why Do Salamanders And Newts Come Out When It Rains?

Salamanders love to hang around ponds and other water bodies where they can hydrate, and keep their skins moist. However, in moist, humid weather, salamanders often venture further away from their natural habitats and often wander into people’s backyards.

Salamanders come out in the rain because they like the wet, cool environment. Wet weather allows salamanders to roam around without the risk of their skin drying out. Worms, snails, slugs, and many bugs are also more plentiful in wet weather, so salamanders can feed without much effort. 

In addition, the breeding season for most salamanders is largely stimulated by rainfall and higher temperatures. Rain floods ditches, and fills ephemeral ponds and other water bodies where salamanders can lay their eggs.

Salamanders Like Humid Environments

Salamanders and other amphibians love cool, humid environments. They usually hang around shaded areas near ponds, swamps, streams, lakes, and other water bodies.

When it rains, the weather is usually cloudy, and moist – creating the perfect environment for salamanders to come out, and wander further away from their typical habitats.

Salamanders have permeable skin that they keep constantly moist by secreting a mucous coating. In dry hot weather, their skin can easily dry out, which can be fatal to them.

However, when it rains, the humid weather and higher moisture content in the air mean Salamanders’ skins do not dry out as easily. If they start to dry out, they can rehydrate and keep their skin moist.

In addition, some predators are less likely to be active in rainy weather, creating a safer environment for salamanders and other amphibians.

Salamanders Can Find Food More Easily in the Rain

When it rains, snails & slugs come out, and lots of earthworms come to the surface. Exposed earthworms or snails are an easy meal for a hungry salamander.

Earthworm on a wet pavement after rain
Earthworms will come out when it rains, making them easy meals for hungry salamanders and frogs.  Photo by: kailenebegonia (CC BY-NC 4.0),

Raindrops often hit flying bugs along the way, which knocks them out of the air and onto the ground, making them easy targets for salamanders and other amphibians.

Salamanders Can Hydrate in the Rain

All animals need water to survive. Rain creates puddles on the ground where salamanders can soak and hydrate.

That said, it’s important to note that salamanders do not drink through their mouths as we do. Instead, they drink by absorbing moisture or water through their permeable skin.

Water is absorbed through the skin via osmosis.

Rain Signals the Mating Season for Salamanders

As earlier mentioned, the breeding season for salamanders is largely stimulated by rainfall and higher temperatures.

When it rains, the wet, cool environment, and increased availability of food, create the perfect conditions for salamanders and other amphibians, such as salamanders, to breed.

In addition, rain fills up ditches and temporal ponds, where salamanders can lay their eggs.

The majority of salamanders very strongly prefer to breed in something called “vernal pools“.

Vernal pool in the wet-season
Vernal pool in the wet-season. A typical breeding habitat for many salamander species. Photo by: Yuvalr, CC BY-SA 4.0

Vernal pools are seasonal pools of water. They are formed when depressions on the ground are filled with water from melting snow and falling rain.

Since they are temporal, they do have fish that could eat the salamander eggs before they hatch, which makes them ideal breeding sites.

Salamanders Can Travel Further in Rainy Weather

Salamanders are amphibians, which means they have permeable skin. They keep it constantly moist by secreting a mucous coating.

When the weather is dry, it also means the moisture content in the air is low, and salamanders’ skins can dry out easily. But in rainy weather, there is a higher concentration of moisture in the air, meaning their skins do not dry out as easily.

Salamanders can move around freely and travel to new areas in rainy weather, without worrying about keeping their skins moist.

Salamanders Can Migrate to Their Breeding Ponds in Rainy Weather

On the first warm, rainy night of spring, the rain will lure out hibernating salamanders and frogs. This is usually before the snow is completely gone and when pools are still partly frozen.

Once they emerge, salamanders will migrate to wetlands with deep enough water where they can breed. This mass migration is often referred to as “the big night”.

In some towns, people close roads and gather to watch thousands of frogs and salamanders on their breeding migration.

Although the mass amphibian migration is referred to as the “Big Night”, it rarely occurs on just one night. Most times, it is actually spread across two or three big nights, and few medium-sized nights, and a few small nights.

During this migration, salamanders can travel significant distances, sometimes up to half a mile.

Salamanders Can Breathe Easily in Rainy Weather

Salamanders breathe through their skin and thin membranes in their mouth and throat (some species also have lungs).

The skin contains a large network of capillaries and other blood vessels close to the surface. The oxygen that comes in contact with their skin and membranes is absorbed into the bloodstream via diffusion.

At the same time, carbon dioxide from the bloodstream passes through the skin and membranes and is diffused into the atmosphere.

This process of “skin breathing” is known as cutaneous respiration, and is very similar to what happens inside of our lungs.

To efficiently breathe, salamanders have to keep their skin constantly moist. They can only absorb oxygen through their skin if the skin stays moist. If it dries up, they can suffocate and die.

The high environmental humidity in rainy weather means salamanders can breathe easily and efficiently, without their skin drying out.

Salamanders Can Cool Off in Rainy Weather

Salamanders are ectothermic (cold-blooded) animals, which means they cannot regulate their body temperature. Their body temperature changes with that of their surroundings.

When it’s warm, their bodies soak up the heat, and their body temperature rises. When it’s cooler, their body temperature falls.

In other words, they depend on their environment to keep them comfortably cool or warm.

Dark-Sided-Salamander-on-a-wet-rock

As the temperature changes at different times of day and night, they move around in their environment to regulate their body heat.

When their body temperature is low, they move into the sun to warm up, when it is high, they move to the shade or cool water to cool down.

During the winter, salamanders will hibernate (technically, they brumate), to protect themselves from the freezing temperatures.

In the summer, if the weather gets too harsh, salamanders will find a cool, moist place and estivate (think of it as some sort of ‘summer hibernation’) as they wait for the rain to come and the temperatures to drop.

Estivation is when an animal enters a state of dormancy to conserve energy when the environmental conditions are very hot and dry. The breathing rate, heart rate, and general metabolic rate decrease, just as they do in hibernation.

When the summer rain finally comes, salamanders will emerge from estivation, and come out to cool themselves by swimming in the puddles.

This can be very refreshing, especially for salamanders who don’t live near a pond or another body of water where they can swim.

Commonly Asked Questions:

Do salamanders come out in the rain? Salamanders come out in the rain because the cool, wet weather allows them to roam freely without risking their skin drying out. Worms, snails, and many bugs are more plentiful in the rain, so salamanders come out to feed.

Where do salamanders come from when it rains? Salamanders are often found in shaded areas near water bodies such as ponds, swamps, streams, or lakes, where they can keep their skins moist. Some also hide in cool, moist caves, under moist leaf litter, under rocks, logs, and other debris. When it rains, the wet environment means salamanders can wander further away from their habitats.

Conclusion

Salamanders are amphibians and thrive in cool, moist environments.

The conditions when it rains are perfect for salamanders to come out of their hiding spots and enjoy the wet, humid weather.