Is it a mudpuppy or hellbender?

I taught myself to fly fish while in high school and have continued the sport since. One of those learning waters was the Little Beaver Creek in Columbiana County. Known for its ability to swamp canoes and hide trophy smallmouth, it was one of my favorite haunts. On one of the many trips wading its waters, I stepped on a big flat rock that transformed into a teeter-totter and sent me splashing. As I unsteadily stood, I saw a squashed-looking, slimy, waterlogged thing scurrying away into a submerged crevice. After stowing my rod, I did a little wet-work to see if I could catch the beast — after all, I was already drenched. At the time, I was certain it was a mudpuppy. I scared it from its hiding spot and got a better look through the clear water before it disappeared. I was wrong. It was the mudpuppy's cousin, an eastern hellbender. Since that time, I've seen plenty of folks make the same mistake in misidentifying these amphibious kin. In all likelihood, if you've thought you've spotted a hellbender, you probably didn't. The largest of North America's amphibians are in such short supply that many states have placed it on their threatened or endangered lists. You likely discovered a mudpuppy. So, what are the differences? The mudpuppy, besides being smaller, has smooth skin and external gills which have a feathery appearance. The better their home-water is oxygenated, the less the gills have to work, making them less apparent. They also have lungs and can gulp air if necessary. The average adult mudpuppy is about 12 inches long, though one was recorded that cleared 14 inches. Hellbenders live in clean, swift-flowing streams and can get considerably larger, measuring up to 2 feet long and a hefty 3 pounds. They also look like they're wearing a wrinkled suit that's two sizes too large. That sagging skin is an identity giveaway. There's a reason for the wrinkles: The hellbender breathes through its skin and the wrinkles provide more surface area to filter oxygen. While there's no need for that showy gill display, it does have single gill slits on each side of its neck. One more helpful hint is location. Mudpuppies are found throughout Ohio, and I've seen them in the Blanchard River, Findlay Reservoir and in Little Beaver Creek. Hellbenders are true southerners, at least as far as Ohio's Continental Divide goes. They only appear in the Ohio River Watershed, not in streams running northward. Both of them suffer from habitat degradation. As barometers of clean water, neither do well in silty or polluted environments. Dams also hurt the hellbender. Fortunately, many streams have been rejuvenated through thoughtful pollution and runoff regulations. Another issue they face is persecution. Some anglers believe they should be killed on sight. One of the things that you learn in life is that some facts just aren't true. For instance, some believe these amphibians eat so many fish eggs that they decrease fish populations. Hunting with their keen sense of smell, they eat mostly crayfish, insect larvae, snails and small fish. Mudpuppies like including invasive round gobies in their diet. Hellbenders will also snack on smaller hellbenders and mudpuppies, and they have a pension for finding dead fish under the water's surface. Neither are blind, and there's no evidence that they impact fish populations. Neither are poisonous, despite any folktales you may have heard — and they won't chew your fingers off. If one happens to take your worm, gently unhook it and return it to the water. That's where it belongs, not dead on the bank, in a bucket or in some home aquarium. Hellbenders also suffer from nickname bias. Regional monikers include waterdog, devil dog, Allegheny alligator, lasagna lizard, mud devil, grampus and, my personal favorite, snot-otter. The Division of Wildlife, with help from Ohio Department of Natural Resources Director Mary Mertz, recently released more than a dozen of the state-endangered hellbenders into quality habitat in central Ohio. The hellbenders are placed under large rocks where they're safe and can establish territories. The hellbenders being released were raised by the Toledo Zoo with help from Penta Career Center. Additional hellbenders are being hatched at their site as well as at the Columbus Zoo, which is preparing 269 for reintroduction into Ohio's cleanest waterways. So far this year, 419 eastern hellbenders have been released following last year's successful release of 1,000. You may notice that little is mentioned about exact release locations. This is due to an unhealthy, illegal market that seeks to remove these animals from the wild and to sell them as collectors' pets. While I was working with the Division of Wildlife, just such a situation was uncovered in Crawford County. In August 2009, David Duncan said that he'd discovered a hellbender in a bucket on his front porch and later took it to the Crawford County Park District. During the investigation, it was discovered that the hellbender had been implanted with a PIT (passive integrated transponder) tag by a biologist from the New York Department of Environmental Protection. Duncan denied being in New York or even knowing anyone from New York, but the investigation discovered that he'd been in the state three days prior to coming into possession of the hellbender. Duncan landed a $1,500 fine and was placed on probation for three years. An examination revealed that the hellbender was an approximately 50 year-old gravid (pregnant) female. It was returned to its wild home in New York. Duncan wasn't nearly as slippery as the hellbender. "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." ― Marcel Proust Along the Way: During 2019, Southwick Associates surveyed more than 20,000 hunters and recreational shooters through its online HunterSurvey and ShooterSurvey consumer panels. They used that data to identify the top-selling brands in the shooting and hunting market: Shotguns – Mossberg and Remington; rifle ammunition – Federal; handgun ammunition – CCI; broadheads – Muzzy; bows – Bear; propellant/black powder – Pyrodex; bullets, balls and/or shot – Hornady; reloading dies – Lee Precision; reloading powder – Hodgdon; and reflex/red dot sights – Sig Sauer. Scopes – Vortex; scope/accessory mounts – Leupold; tree stands/ladders/towers – Big Game; trail cameras – Wildgame Innovations; cover scent – Dead Down Wind; benches and rests – Caldwell; holsters – Alien; trigger assemblies – Timney; and bipods – Harris. Learn more about this report and other outdoor consumer research at https://www.southwickassociates.com/. Step Outside: • Today: Youth Fun Day, noon to 3 p.m. The free event includes firearms safety, shotgun clay target shooting and 22 rifle shooting. Targets, ammunition, instruction, door prizes and lunch provided. Open to all age 18 and younger. Personal firearms permitted. Mount Blanchard Gun Club, 21655 Delaware Township 186. Questions: Bob Yoder 419-273-5057. • Today and Sunday: 3D Archery Match, mixed animal targets. Field and Stream Bowhunters, 11400 Allen Township 109, Findlay. Registration opens at 8 a.m. Contact: Harold Spence, 419-423-9861. • Sunday: International Defensive Pistol Match, signup begins 9 a.m., UCOA, 6943 Marion Township 243, Findlay. For details: http://www.ucoa-findlay.com/. • Aug. 29: Rifle and Pistol Match, 2 p.m., Mount Blanchard Gun Club. Centerfire and rimfire handguns and rifles permitted. • Sept. 8: Fall trap league begins, UCOA. Contact: Sandy Thomas, 419-722-2441. Abrams is a retired wildlife officer supervisor for the state Division of Wildlife in Findlay. He can be reached at P.O. Box 413, Mount Blanchard, OH 45867-0413 or via email at jimsfieldnotes@aol.com.