In Search Of America’s Missing Hellbenders

<p>Hellbenders live only in the eastern part of the United States in shallow, fast-flowing, rocky streams that are cold and well-oxygenated. They are extreme habitat specialists, adapted to a specific niche within a very specific environment. Their exacting requirements makes them an important environmental indicator: their presence indicates that the streams they inhabit are consistently clean and clear and cold.</p> <p>Hellbenders are apex predators in many of the freshwater streams they occupy, and have a good sense of smell that they use to sniff out dead fish, which they feast upon. They rely on scent almost exclusively to find their meals because their eyesight is poor &mdash; although their bodies are covered with light-sensitive cells, which might be one of their most fascinating traits.</p> <p><a href="https://medium.com/gardening-birding-and-outdoor-adventure/in-search-of-americas-missing-hellbenders-faae2ff19ecc"><strong>Click Here</strong></a></p>