{"id":397092,"date":"2026-01-09T11:08:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T11:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/397092\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T11:08:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T11:08:08","slug":"salamander-mating-season-means-road-closure-in-homewood-even-during-basketball-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/397092\/","title":{"rendered":"Salamander mating season means road closure in Homewood even during basketball games"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s not just basketball season. It\u2019s also mating season for salamanders<\/a>, so watch where you step. <\/p>\n

On Friday, Jan. 9, South Lakeshore Drive near Homewood High School will be closed to allow for a safe salamander crossing during their mating season. <\/p>\n

In Homewood, spotted salamanders have been seen for years as they migrate in January<\/a>. And when it\u2019s warm and rainy more salamanders and frogs will be making their way across Alabama roads.<\/p>\n

Tiger, mole and spotted salamanders<\/a> are among the breeds that mate during winter in Alabama.<\/p>\n

The salamanders lay eggs, which turn into larvae that later form legs. When they are big enough, the salamanders wait for a rainy night to find shelter in nearby woods. A year or two later, they return to the same spot to breed, according to experts<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Those who are planning to attend the Homewood High School vs. A.H. Parker High School basketball game on Friday should enter the school through the main entrance by the baseball fields, according to an Instagram post by Homewood Athletics. <\/p>\n

The basketball games start with the junior varsity boys and varsity girls teams at 6 p.m., followed by the varsity boys game at 7:30 p.m. <\/p>\n

The road is expected to close overnight for the salamander migration. <\/p>\n

If you want to learn more about salamanders and conservation efforts, the Friends of Shades Creek<\/a>, a local preservation non-profit, is holding their annual Salamander Festival in Homewood<\/a> on Jan. 31 from 1 to 4:30 p.m. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s not just basketball season. It\u2019s also mating season for salamanders, so watch where you step. On Friday,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397093,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[79,201],"class_list":{"0":"post-397092","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-science","9":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397092\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}