Tommy Burke, age 8, of Prescott, Ariz., for his question:

WHAT IS A MUD PUPPY?

A mud puppy is an aquatic salamander that you'll find living in American ponds and streams. Some grow to be 17 inches long, but most of the full grown animals are about 8 inches long.

You'll find mud puppies in the Great Lakes, the Mississippi River and in streams and ponds as far south as Georgia and as far west as Texas.

Mud puppies have slimy bodies that are dark brown, gray brown or black in color. They have powerful flat tails and deep purplish red external gils behind their short, flat heads. This is the reason that the mad puppy is sometimes called the water dog.

Mud puppies live among water plants in between 2 and 8 feet of water. They cat crayfish, fish eggs and other water animals.