A Wonderland of Rivers and Forests

Hope for the Hellbender

Under a large flat rock in an Ozark stream

Dwells an ancient aquatic sentinel

With a Gaia messenger scheme

Calling all good earthly stewards

Protect these precious waters

Please the fish, the frog, the turtle and the toad

Let the mystery of this peculiar amphibian, continue to unfold
_________________________________________________________

He goes by many names:  Snot Otter;  Water  Dog;  Devil Dog, to name just a few.

But he mostly goes by, or is more commonly called , the  “Hellbender.”

Perhaps his bizarre appearance summons imagery from the depths of  a Dante vision.  Moreover, some have suggested that he’s hell bent on returning there.

 

As for me, I call him Harry.

Yeah, I feel a certain kind of kinship with this bewildering, curious creature.

It’s deeply rooted in my re-cognition of the trials of life and the anxieties of a very uncertain future.  For my own life, and certainly his.
(And I can’t resist the allure of assigning alliterative nicknames for my friends on the river)

 

The first time I laid eyes on Harry, I was genuinely transformed by a completely new frontier of discovery, at least in my life.  It was my wake up call(from the natural world) that there were strange and wonderful things STILL left to explore, discover, and experience.

Never in my life had I ever seen such an unusual, exotic creature- that resembled some-thing from a Ridley Scott movie set or a living fossil from the dinosaur ages.

 

Though the sad truth, now…

This awesome aquatic salamander may go the way of the dinosaurs all too very soon.

 

*There are two subspecies from the Cryptobranchidae family(giant salamanders) found in Missouri waters:  the Ozark Hellbender; and the Eastern Hellbender.

 

(The Hellbender is a “sentinel organism,” also known as an “indicator species,” which is highly sensitive to changes in environmental/water conditions and sometimes serves as an early alarm system to watchful biologists.)

 

The Missouri Department of Conservation(MDC) states that:

“Hellbenders are a major indicator of the overall health of a river or stream; if there is something in the water that is causing their decline, it can affect other species, including us, as well.”

 

*Both subspecies are on the Missouri endangered list and the Ozark Hellbender is also listed with the federal Endangered Species Act.

 

*But diagnosing the plight of the Hellbender is proving to be a difficult puzzle to solve.
Of course the usual suspects are being considered such as:
water quality; habitat degradation; human intervention/activities; and still more.  And they do have an impact.

But the trouble with Harry is much more complicated-it presents some real mysteries yet to be unraveled(more on this in later posts).

 

*Recent estimates – Ozark Hellbender:  there may only be 600 to 650 left in Missouri; and a mere 100 to 150 individuals in the state of Arkansas.
Still more alarming, that means there’s only about 800 left in the whole world!
(as the Ozark Hellbender is endemic to only these two states)

 

*Recent estimates – Eastern Hellbender:  only 600 to 800 individuals left in the state of Missouri; unsure of its total numbers in the U.S. as it ranges into some of the Eastern states.

 

Furthermore, the MDOC has reported that both subspecies could be extinct in Missouri in less than 20 years.

That’s not even a cosmic blink for this astounding amphibian who’s been a resident of Ozark streams for at least 6 million years and comes from a family(Cryptobranchidae) lineage that dates back to the Jurassic period.

 

This devastating decline of the Hellbender has me agitated and deeply concerned.
But it just now occurred to me as I ponder this post; it’s December, the season of hope.

 

And I have good tidings to share with the world!

 

The St.Louis Zoo, Missouri Department of Conservation, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Announced they have been successful in captive breeding of the Ozark Hellbender species for two consecutive years now.
The importance of this development is HUGE!

 

Read all about it:

http://www.stlzoo.org/about/contact/pressroom/pressreleases/hellbender-breeding-of-three-populations/

More information on the Hellbender:
http://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/hellbender

 

It’s good to know that there’s hope for even the Hellbender at Christmas.

Best wishes for Peace at Christmas

(* sourced from MDC)

 

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