There is perhaps no more dangerous a thing than a creature beyond its ken. I write today of both people and salamanders, the first beyond their depth in knowledge, the second beyond its proper reach in nature, both a source of needless destruction.
I remember well my first encounter with the salamander invasion. My family was vacationing in the Americas and we had planned a trip through the great redwood forests. But upon arriving, we were barred by locals from even seeing the tree-line - we were fire-breathers, you see, and there were salamanders about. It was a crushing disappointment to a young dragon, to be sure, and such a species-based restriction would hardly be tolerated in today's world. But in my many years since, having seen the blackened forests and charred, soot-stained plains left in the wake of the salamanders' march, I have come to understand such knee-jerk reactions all too well.
Salamanders, native to the lava-fields of the volcanic islands of the world, are well adapted to their hostile homes of fire and brimstone. They secrete a flammable ooze from glands on their back which, when lit by lava, creates a flame which burns for hours. This flame keeps the salamander's core temperature up, freeing it from the need for an internal flame which most draconids, myself included, require for life.
But, taken out of that environment and placed into a greener one, those adaptations take a bad turn. The flammable fluid, which the salamanders secrete constantly, is spread throughout their territories, which can be expansive. Nesting sites are especially doused to ensure the eggs get the high temperatures needed to hatch. When this liquid is lit, it is almost impossible to put out, and though it burns slowly, the surrounding brush does not. Entire forests are devoured by flames within days, and the culprits, to the chagrin of locals, emerge unharmed and ready to move to greener pastures.
Though the salamanders withstand forest fires with ease, they are not immune to the fire of vengeance from locals displaced by their flames. Eradication programs are widespread in areas effected by salamander fire, and the slow moving beasts are quickly slaughtered. The problem, however, often proves more pervasive. The secretion left by salamanders, long dead, stays potent for years, and no effective way to purge forests of it has yet been discovered. The populace must remain vigilant to ensure that an errant spark doesn't render their eradication work pointless. Complicating the matter, salamander eggs, thick-shelled and easily mistaken for rocks, remain viable for decades. A heat wave in an area formerly inhabited by salamanders can bring hatchlings crawling out of the woodwork, starting the vicious cycle all over again.
But the salamanders are not the true villains in this story. One of least intelligent and least mobile of all draconids, salamanders remained safely in their lava fields for millions of years. It was not until the exploration and colonization of their island homes that they were introduced to the more flammable world beyond. Captured and brought onto cargo ships as pets, novelties or ill-devised business ventures, salamanders found their way to nearly every continent. The majority of today's feral salamander populations can be traced back to salamanders imported and bred for their skins. Salamander pelts, being fire proof and attractively colored, made quite a statement in the fashion world of the late 1600s. However, when the toxicity of these skins and the garments made from them was discovered, beleaguered businessmen cut their losses and set loose their salamanders herds upon unprepared lands. And so the salamander invasion began.
So is there any hope for a solution? If thoughtlessness got us into this mess, it will be the opposite which gets us out. Research studies situated in the salamander's homelands are, every year, yielding new insights into the behaviors and biological functions of these fiery creatures. These insights will, researchers hope, yield new methods of population control and fire prevention more effective than the eradication programs now in place. Whatever inovations this research will bring will doubtless save future generations from a lifetime of headaches, but whether they will come swiftly enough to save the salamander's reputation remains to be seen.
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