Shrew vs. the salamander

I may not have mentioned it before but marbled salamanders have a nice "goo" on them that is supposed to be distasteful.  They, like some other Ambystomatid salamanders produce noxious secretions thought to deter predators. After handling them my hands have a nice coating of their secretions and it basically looks like you're just dirty--it gets dried and black and pretty hard to get off.  As an aside getting it into your eyes is NOT recommended.  On Friday we caught a shrew in a bucket and decided to see what it would do. Shrews are common predators of salamanders and it's been shown they don't seem to get used to the secretion, but also don't let it deter them.  I've uploaded the video to you tube and you can watch it here. It is clear that the shrew finds the salamander distasteful but irresistible at the same time!  It "tastes" the salamander then rubs it mouth like crazy but comes right back.  Pretty cool to watch.  Rest assured neither the shrew nor the salamander were injured in the making of this film!