The first time I saw a hellbender I knew exactly what it was despite no previous experience with one. While kayaking down a Pennsylvania creek, I was waved down by a family playing along the banks. They were turning over rocks, building towers, and dams. It was under one of these rocks where they discovered the foot long, slimy salamander and had no idea what it was.

Eastern Hellbenders are North America’s largest salamander. They can grow up to 29 inches long and live up to 30 years. For such a large creature, it is not one most people are familiar with. Unless you turn over large rocks in certain types of creeks, you probably won’t ever see one in the wild.

Hellbenders are completely aquatic, requiring cool, clean streams to survive. They are important indicators of healthy stream ecosystems. Temperature and water quality are critical to their survival. Colder water contains more oxygen, and hellbenders breathe completely through their skin. Warm, polluted water for hellbenders is like us breathing hot, smoke-filled air.

To survive in an aquatic environment, they have many adaptations. Their long, flat bodies can fit under large rocks, which they use for shelter. Their wide mouth helps gather food. The extra flaps of skin along their sides increase the surface area to absorb oxygen.

Photo by Jessica Guise Picture is a boy playing with a stuffed animal hellbender, created by local artist Ellen Paquette.

These flaps earned them the nickname of Lasagna Lizard. Another nickname for hellbenders is Snot Otters, describing both their slimy skin and aquatic, carnivorous behavior they share with otters.

In December 2024, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to add Eastern Hellbenders to the Endangered Species list. A related subspecies, the Ozark Hellbender, has been on the list since 2011. Its range is limited to Missouri and Arkansas, whereas the Eastern Hellbender can be found from New York south to Alabama and west to Illinois.

Like most decreasing populations, a major cause of decline for hellbender populations is habitat change and loss. Sediment falling into streams from development and agriculture runoff is detrimental to their habitat. Disease and loss to the pet trade are also threats.

I find a contradiction with hellbenders. On one hand, I believe that education is critical to conservation, and there is no better education than direct experience, especially for children. But for hellbenders, direct contact can actually cause them harm.

In my first experience with a hellbender in the wild, the family I came across was turning over and stacking rocks to build dams and rock towers. And while there is so much to be learned from that kind of outside play, it has unintended consequences.

Photo by Katie Finch Hellbenders require cold, clear stream habitats like the one shown above.

Rocks are a stable, protective structure in an otherwise moving environment. Hellbenders use rocks as shelters. And when you move a rock, you make them more vulnerable to predators and may disturb their eggs. There are also many aquatic creatures that cling to or shelter under rocks.

So how do people learn to appreciate an animal that they really shouldn’t see or touch? This is where there is a role for zoos, aquariums, and nature centers who care for a small number of animals so a large number of people can experience them.

Audubon has two Eastern Hellbenders that serve as Animal Ambassadors to teach visitors about their species. They were part of a conservation program, in which eggs were gathered from the wild, then raised in captivity until the larva was large enough to escape most predation. Most were released back into the wild, while a few held back for education.

In their tank, visitors can observe their wrinkly skin that waves in the current from the filter. Camouflage becomes real when the hellbenders blend in so well with the rocks that visitors think the tank is empty. And observers can wonder at the function of their strange, unique bodies, including their tiny, white toes.

Hellbenders are one of the strange, amazing creatures we share the world with, and they play an important role in aquatic ecosystems. They need our appreciation and protection. One way we can do that is by learning more about them. So, when we do have a choice that will affect their health and wellbeing, we can, and we want to take them into consideration too.

Audubon Community Nature Center builds and nurtures connections between people and nature. ACNC is located just east of Route 62 between Warren and Jamestown. The trails are open from dawn to dusk and birds of prey can be viewed anytime the trails are open. The Nature Center is open from 10 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. daily except Sunday when it opens at 1 p.m. More information can be found online at auduboncnc.org or by calling (716) 569-2345.