Leeches

It has been a long time...
Anyway, on an unusually warm winter day, we went to Myron and Sonya Glassberg CA for a hike. We got a bit turned around and ended up at an isolated pond off the trail.
We all noticed the movement in the water at about the same time and couldn't tell what we were looking at.  We were freaking out.
There were creatures undulating through the water. Some had legs, others were green with orange spots, some were orange with brown spots.  We took one of them out of the water and it turned into a puddle of mush...until it sensed the water and in a moment found its shape again.
There were HUNDREDS of salamanders and HUNDREDS of giant leeches, 5-8 inches long.