What the Heck Is That?

I went out to the barn as usual yesterday, fed the horses and dogs, and went to the dog’s water bowl to top it off. There was a critter in there, something aquatic/amphibious. Since it was at the bottom of the bowl, I assumed it was dead. Nope. Lifting the bowl, it wiggled. I suspect is was a bit stiff since it was barely over freezing.

I took the bowl outside and emptied it onto the gravel drive. The critter was about five inches long, oddly spotted, and had a vertical tail. It’s head didn’t look like a lizard. On its own, it started to slowly crawl away. I picked it up by its tail and put it on the concrete barn floor. This called for pictures. While not fast, it moved away with its short legs. I moved it back into the center of the aisle and got one good picture. Then I put it outside to go on its merry way. The dogs could have cared less about it. Nothing here to bother or eat. They ignored it altogether.

So, what is this creature? How did it get here? This is the first of whatever this is I have ever seen. Where did it come from? How long did it take to get here? Is this part of a migration? Are there hordes of others like it ready to invade? With its short legs, how did it get into the dog bowl? Does it use its tail to help climb?

Later, when I was talking to Jeff, we both thought it was a pollywog in a stage right before it became a frog. However, when I showed him my picture, he identified it as a salamander. And, when I looked up images of salamanders, it confirmed the call.