A baby roughskin newt sits in my hand, before being moved off the road into the forest. The newt is about 8cm long, burgundy on top and bright orange beneath, but so small its toes are translucent. The top half of its eye gleams gold like a dragon. This is a photo from several autumns ago.
A newt for those that need one.
#herps #Taricha #ComfortCreature
Rough-skinned Newt - Oregon coastal range near Astoria.
One of the highlights of my trip was seeing this little newt. Very cute, but also a bit on the toxic side.
#photography #photo #newt #Salamander #Taricha #Oregon #amphibian
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rough-skinned_newt
A very orange baby roughskin newt (Taricha granulosa) is walking over a compact tuft of green moss on a rain-wet grey rock. The baby newt's eye gleams gold on its top half, and black beneath. The baby's orange body is partially transparent as it is backlit by the low winter sun, so various innards show as black blobs inside the newt's abdomen. In other newts this life stage is called an eft, but none of my guidebooks use this term for roughskin newts, I wonder why?
A baby roughskin newt on moss; an old photo. One of many moved off the road over the years, as they migrate from natal ponds to the winter forest to forage. Somewhere I have a video of this little one's climb from my hand up the rock to this summit.
#moss #bryology #newt #taricha #herps
Woe: "It is with heavy hearts that CRD Parks staff share the news of the passing of one of the rough-skinned newts at the Francis/King Nature Centre. Newton and Darwin have been a staple at the nature centre for many long years (some estimate their age at over 25!)"
#herps #taricha
A tiny roughskin newt, Taricha granulosa, perches on my hand after having wandered out of the chill autumn air into my broiling hot tropical greenhouse at work. They have just left their hatching pond, and hiked the 15 minute (for humans) walk up the hill to get to the forest, but accidentally squeezed under the greenhouse door. I am whisking them away, back into the mossy Doug Fir forest so they don't dessicate, and so they can keep learning to forage for small slugs and springtails as they will continue to do all winter. They are slightly out of focus due to the awkward way I'm holding them while trying to brace the phone against my chin to get the photo. A more appealing tiny face would be hard to find! The lil' newt's skin is a lovely burgundy on top and a cheerful orange below, which when on the ground outside in autumn makes them closely resemble a fallen bigleaf maple samara. Their eyes are dark with a small golden green arc across the top of their eyeball. Their tail is curled in a way they do if they are paying attention but not sure which action to take. The background of the photo has potted Alocasias on the greenhouse's concrete floor.
I have just discovered the photo-search function on my iphone, and am mightily amused by how it interprets my photos. May I present "Beetle" according to Apple:
#herps #newt #Taricha
A determined roughskin newt (Taricha granulosa) trundles bemusedly across an asphalt road, each step taking a good few seconds. Still, they'd already come a huge distance! They are a rich burgundy-infused brown with many knobbly tiny bumps on their back, with a bright orange underside that is not visible in the photo except for the underside of their toes and legs. Their defense when frightened (ex: by the bobcat loader approaching with a bucket of compost) is to flip over and show their bright tummies to deter predators. This does not deter squashing vehicle tires, which is why our workplace Newt Patrol Crew move them across the roads so they can continue on their way un-flattened. This newt is full size so likely 5+ yrs old.
The same newt, moved 8 feet off the road and up the slope a bit, pointing in their prior direction of travel to prevent any accidental road re-crossing. The newt is burgundy with only a bit of its orange underside showing on its back right leg as it steps off my hand. The forest floor pictured is mostly decomposing leaves from bigleaf maples and sword and liquorice ferns, with some twigs and a stump. A green fern frond peeks into the frame at the top. The newt seemed more alert as soon as they saw the forest detritus, I can only imagine all the invertebrates among the leaves and fallen wood for them to stuff themselves with all winter😊 The late summer newts seem bemused by the barren expanse of the roads, I think that's why they always slow down on them at this time of year. Later in the year the roads are much colder than the forest floor, so they stop because they get quite cold and need to wait til the sun warms them up, but right now that is not the issue. The first newt of fall is always good fortune, so I share them with you so that we are all blessed by their sweet bumpy arrival!
First road newt of the autumn season! Heading from their summer pond to their winter foraging ground in the doug fir forest. I scooped them off the service road just before all the crews drove down it heading for break. I'd forgotten how leisurely their amble is! #newts #herps #Taricha #SalishSea
A newt sitting in leaf litter on the forest floor, next to a small log, facing the camera. The newt is a warm, pale brown on its back, with roughly pebbled skin. A bright orange underside is visible on the underside fringes of its legs, toes, and jaw.
A beautiful newt (Taricha granulosa) that I encountered in the forest earlier this week. Caudates are among my favourite small animals, and I'm always thrilled to come across one.
#newt #taricha #salamander #amphibian #inaturalist #canada #macro #macrophotography #wildlife #wildlifephotography
Found this one-eyed newt out in the recent storm…. California Newt (Taricha torosa) #herps #sendnewts #newtity #newts #taricha #fieldwork #calherps #dontlickthem
A California newt with a dark brown iris. The newt is held in a pair of gloved hands
The head of a california newt, showing the iridescent yellow eye patches typical of the species
The head of a red bellied newt, showing the dark brown iris typical of the species
Shocked and delighted to encounter this beautiful California #Newt (Taricha torosa) with dark eyes (photo with purple gloves). Typically, CA newts have bright yellow patches in the iris. The eyes of this newt more closely resemble those of a red bellied newt — T. rivularis!
#herpetology #taricha
A small newt in a human hand.
It’s dangerous to go alone. Take this.
#sendnewts #newtist #herps #tarichatorosa #taricha
A dark red newt with an orange underbelly is seen resting on top of an egg mass underwater. More egg masses are visible in the background.
If I send Newts, does this get flagged as Newt-ity? Sierra Newt (Taricha sierrae) cuddling an egg mass. #herps #newt #taricha #sendnewts #newtity #tarichasierrae #amphibians #salamanders #fieldwork
A dark red newt, with a pale orange underbelly, crawls across fresh gravel.
Anyway, here’s a California Newt, Taricha torosa, crawling through an active construction site. #herps #newts #taricha #amphibians #fieldwork
An expanse of grey pavement, with a sturdy burgundy Roughskin Newt (Taricha granulosa) walking across it toward the forest. The newt has bits of bright green duckweed drying on its back, from the pond it has left behind.
Just stridin' across the road to the forest, with a smattering of duckweed camo.
#taricha #newt #amphibian #salishsea
3 roughskin newts (Taricha granulosa) stride across wet Bigleaf Maple leaves, their sturdy and appealing toes splayed for traction. They are a lovely rich brown, and the glimpse of their orange bellies blends into the winter forest detritus. They move from summer breeding ponds to winter forest hunting ground at this time of year, and the final part of the journey crosses a busy road, so I move the ones I find the final 100ft of their journey, to keep them from being squashed. Newts are wild, obviously, and I wouldn't pick them up except to move them to safety. They are very cute.
Road newts (Taricha granulosa) now safely in their forest! 3 little dragons, ready to hunt voraciously in the boundary layer all winter. By the time I'd moved them, they'd already walked a distance equivalent to 8 minutes of a human's brisk striding, from their summer pond!
#newt #taricha #amphibian
3 roughskin newts (Taricha granulosa) sit in my hand. They are being moved from a busy road to their forest destination, so they don't get squashed by vehicles as they slowly walk. The two larger newts are dark brown, the smaller (younger) newt is a pretty burgundy, with its tiny feet appearing translucent and orange.
Road newts in transit to safety... (they get cold on the asphalt and stop moving, leaving them vulnerable to squashing by trucks and loaders). They are travelling en masse to the forest for winter!
#newt #taricha #amphibian
