While at Glenmeal State Forest with my Herpetology class I was surprised to encounter a floating redback salamander (Plethodon cinereus) dead in the second vernal pool we examined. This little guy was out of place as Redbacks do not reproduce using vernal pools but instead lay eggs in rotting logs or stumps which undergo direct development and hatch into mini-adults! So it is curious how this one ended up in this pool. Is it common for them to fall in and freeze in early spring?