This week of the blogging challenge was more laid back than the others, we had the opportunity to write about which ever topic we were interested in. I decided to write about axolotls.

It is pronounced “ax-oh-lot-ul”, these little amphibians are apart of the salamander family. These small creatures are only found wild in the lakes of Xochimilco, Mexico, but are also pets all around the world.

Wild axolotls are a greenish brown colour, and the branch like horns that grow from their heads are actually their gills. The difference between axolotls and every other salamander is that they live permanently in the water, this explains why their name axolotl, means water dog. They scale to about the size of a large teacup and eat small fish, crustaceans, worms and really anything that can fit in their mouth.

Sadly, these little salamanders are endangered, they are becoming more and more scarce in the wild. Scientists are having trouble finding any at all, because of habitat loss, water extraction and pollution, they are a very rare species today.