Word from the Smokies: Park embarks on cutting-edge hellbender study
With wrinkly skin that comes in various shades of brown, eastern hellbenders aren’t easy to spot. These giant salamanders, which average 20 inches in length, spend most of their lives nearly invisible under rocks on the bottom of cool, fast-flowing streams.
Raising hellbenders is no small feat
Biologists with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission have launched a captive breeding program for the giant, odd-looking Hellbender salamander, also called water dogs or snot otters. If successful, the program could be a first.