Amy’s Almanac:  Naturalist Tips for Feb 2026

TIP:  To reduce backyard bug pests this summer… mosquitos, ticks, flies and slugs… encourage salamander habitat in your yard now. These quiet, shy neighbors devour the pests you deplore. For the next few weeks (March and April), leave moist areas like puddles, small leaf piles, fallen branches and old tree trunks undisturbed so salamanders have a safe place to lay delicate eggs and provide your yard with round the clock mosquito and tick control this summer!  Bonus: the same actions… not disturbing woodland edge leaves and branches… creates and protects habitat for fireflies this summer. Protect now, enjoy later.

Sick of summer mosquitos and ticks ruining your outdoor fun? Very effective (and genuinely) natural pest control is right under your feet, and it is completely free. 

Though you may never see your quiet, shy, unassuming neighbors, salamanders eat copious amounts of unwanted pests like mosquitos, ticks, spiders, flies and slugs all day long, all spring, summer and fall.  Their voracious appetites for pests protect you and your family all summer long. And, having a heathy salamander population removes the need for costly broadcast chemical pesticides, including the often misrepresented “organic” or “natural” pesticides commonly sprayed on lawns.  You may never see the salamanders, but their appetites help you enjoy your backyard life.

Simple steps, starting in February:

1.  Leave the leaves… for now. Don’t blow leaves or remove that pile of damp organic material under your trees or round your patio areas until about the end of April.  Salamanders start laying eggs as early as February on warm early spring days, and they do it in those moist leaf piles and ephemeral wetlands (that wet spot in your yard that persists for weeks), so “cleaning up” during this vulnerable time removes their habitat, and well, kills them. So, for a few weeks, just let it be.

2.  Move dead fallen limbs and bark to a safe spot in February and leave them alone until the end of April to provide a few more safe hiding spots for very shy salamanders and their delicate eggs.

3.  Salamander eggs look like tiny crystal balls around a pepper corn. If you find these pretty eggs, gently cover them back up with some damp leaves and leave them alone.  

4.  Salamanders are “indicator species” and like other pest eating amphibians such as frogs and toads, they are very sensitive to common chemical treatments -- even if the treatments are confusingly labeled “organic” or “natural” --  so minimizing broadcast pesticide treatments will help mosquito eaters thrive and will help keep your friends, neighbors and family more comfortable outside.  

5. In your landscaping plan, create a few moist, fern filled and/or shade plant zones throughout your yard with plenty of leaf and organic material to protect your quiet, desirable salamander neighbors.

And wonderfully…those same actions now also protect and preserve your firefly population this summer.  So, relaxing now, and just letting it be, will let you enjoy the real magic of summer outdoors in Great Falls this year.  

Amy Stephan is a GFCA Exec Board Member and a Virginia Master Naturalist in Old Rag VMN District.