Chinese Zodiac, Lesson One: The Year of the Salamander

The Year of the Salamander is the shortest of the Chinese Zodiac years. It is not very well understood as it has only noticeably occurred once so far, from October 22, 1971 to October 24, 1971 to be exact. It is speculated that it might happen once every 10,000 years, but experts are still waiting for conclusive data to come in to support this theory. In addition to the generally accepted signs for given years in the Chinese Zodiac, there are also five regular elements and four irregular ones. So 1971, for example, is largely considered to be The Year of the Metal Pig. It is perhaps not surprising then that October 22, 1971 to October 24, 1971 is considered not just The Year of the Salamander, but The Year of the Dented Salamander.

DENTED SALAMANDERS have a questionable exterior, and an even more questionable interior. In fact, the only thing more questionable than their integrity is their existence. They are almost always born in water, but usually tire of it by their 30's and move on, although they never really stray too far from liquid of some sort or the other. Dented Salamanders generally get along very well with animals that don't try to eat them, but are especially drawn to the other really rare Chinese Zodiac signs, Sparkly Wombats, Crocheted Earthworms, and Velvet Devilfish.