Like just about every major construction project, costs have gone up up up for the big grade separation at Washington Boulevard and Paseo Padre Parkway. There are lots of reasons for this, but one of the most amusing (or frustrating, depending on you feelings for amphibians) is the California Tiger Salamander.

The 8- to 10-inch critter is a threatened species, and, for at least one colony, their mating ground of choice was a 150-foot-long, six-foot-deep pond that work crews had to fill in order to move ahead with the grade separation.

Come winter, the reclusive little buggers would leave their burrows and lay their eggs in the pond, which they liked because there were no bullfrogs or fish around to munch on their larvae.

Had the state not made the salamander a threatened species in 2004, Fremont could have filled the pond with minimal hassle. Instead it’s cost the city more than $500,000  to relocate the colony.

For two winters the city hired biologists to trap the salamanders and relocate them near a different breeding ground. Eggs found in the pond were incubated elsewhere.

It’s assumed that most of the salamanders have been transferred to new homes, but the city still must retain certified monitors during construction to trap any salamanders spotted nearby.

Total cost for the relocating the salamander is now estimated at $575,166.