Friends of Shades Creek invited the community to Homewood High School to enjoy local wildlife and entertainment at its 22nd Salamander Festival Jan. 31. The non-profit environmental group uses the festival to spread awareness about salamanders and their habitats with free admission.
Attendance broke last year’s record of 900 guests, as 1,100 people from across the Birmingham area stopped by the festival this year to see wild creatures, listen to live music and do arts and crafts. Guests could also order pizza from Slice and ice cream from Neighbors, both local restaurants.
Melonie McBrayer, the HHS contact for Friends of Shades Creek and former AP environmental science teacher, said there is a lengthy preparation for the event.
“[Planning] is all year long,” McBrayer said. “We think of things, new groups, but the mad planning starts in August because you are trying to get everybody scheduled and commit to come.”
McBrayer said local organizations bring animals for attendees to look at or even hold.
“The wildlife center from Oak Mountain brought one of their birds,” McBrayer said. “Ruffner Mountain will be here. Usually they’ll bring a couple snakes, so it’s a lot of things.”
Friends of Shades Creek also introduced a new short film called “Salabama” made by Nicholas Hess, a wildlife photographer and conservation filmmaker from California. “Salabama” was produced by Southern Exposure Films, Hess filmed and edited the 20-minute film about salamanders in Alabama.
Salamander-themed arts and crafts are a popular offering at the festival, featuring mediums like paint and clay. The Swinging Slythereens, composed of Phil Vander Kamp, Joe Rada and Owen Stayner, is a local band that performs at the festival.
McBrayer explains why HHS was the ideal choice to host the annual event.
“When we moved it here, we had access to the forest preserves, so we added a hike with the fresh water land trust,” McBrayer said, “The vernal pools the salamanders migrate to to reproduce every year are right along Armory Road, and our space is bigger here than where we were before.”
Vernal pools are shallow pools of water available in the winter time for salamanders to reproduce. They need specific conditions to do so, such as 50 degree rainy weather. The festival spreads awareness to those living in surrounding areas and works to keep their habitat safe.
There are 43 types of salamanders, with nine types of salamanders specific to the Homewood area. Shades Creek is the main area where salamanders live and reproduce.
Friends of Shades Creek president Michelle Blackwood explains why people, especially children, should care about salamanders and their ecosystem.
“We only have one earth to live on,” Blackwood said, “If we pollute it and trash it, we have to deal with it, so it’s important to teach people and especially children…children are very interested in protecting animals and protecting our environment.”
Blackwood explains the other services Friends of Shades Creek does for the community regularly.
“The festival is not the only thing we do,” Blackwood said, “We have creek cleanups, and we have trail cleanups. We clean up invasive species…We generally have four or five creek cleanups where we pull out trash out of Shades Creek.”
More than 40 environmental organizations participated in the festival. Sponsors for the festival include UAB, Samford University and the City of Homewood.
