Alright, they're not really axolotls and they're not legendary (yet), but they're still quite fascinating! Our intrigue with these "axolotls" began at beautiful Lily Lake, just south of Estes Park. Actually a part of Rocky Mountain National Park, Lily Lake is right next to the Peak-to-Peak with a great vista of Longs Peak, Mt. Meeker and Twin Sisters Mountain.
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| The Danish cousins of Mexico's Axolotls |
On a warm, mid-June paddle on Lily Lake, we noticed some small, bizarre-looking creatures swimming in the shallows of the lake only a few inches below the surface. Then, upon paying closer attention, we realized there were hundreds--maybe thousands--of these amphibious animals within the lake. They had four legs, a small tail, and six horn-like protrusions around their faces. And we were baffled as to what these creatures could be.
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| A beautiful June day on Lily Lake |
After returning home, we did some investigating. The creatures that we saw were likely juvenile tiger salamanders. While we would probably recognize the adult form of these amphibians, they have a substantially different appearance in their larval stage. Also, because they're aquatic, sightings of these animals are probably limited to a small number of lakes during a few weeks of the year.
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| WTF are these things swimming in the water??? |
A few months later, we learned that amphibians like these aren't as obscure as we thought. Our 8 year-old son was assembling a Minecraft LEGO set of a certain aquatic battle scene (the elder guardian?). I noticed some cute little pixelated Lego creatures and asked what they were. He said, "They're axolotls!" [duh].
"What are they again?"
"Axolotls!"
"I'm sorry, I didn't understand"
"Axolotls!"
"Wait, what?"
"Axolotls!!"
After 10 minutes of trying to guess how to possibly spell the word he was telling me, it occurred to me to just read the contents description on the side of the Lego box. And that's how we adults learned what axolotls are.
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| Axolotl Source: Wikimedia Commons |
To be accurate, actual axolotls never metamorphose out of their larval state, and they only occur naturally in Mexico. Lily Lake might be a habitat for tiger salamanders, but they're definitely not real axolotls. But axolotl is so much more fun to say!
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| Paddling on Lily Lake |
We have only seen the Axolotls once, and haven't been back to Lily Lake at the same time of year. However, we imagine that these fascinating creatures live in many other places similar to Lily within our great state. So if you're out on a paddleboard on a smallish, shallow montane-elevation lake in late spring or early summer, keep an eye out for signs of life just beneath the surface. These unusual amphibians with semi-cute, semi-menacing faces are a fun and exciting discovery. Happy travels at 'Lotl Lake!
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