Tuesday, January 12th, 2010...11:29 am
I heard the newt today, oh boy
[UPDATE: Upon further discussions with the Hubs, we have realized this is NOT a NEWT. Au contraire, this dark, slippery fellow is a Northwestern Salamander (amybstoma gracile), but I still think you don't want to eat him. Well, I don't. I guess I can't speak for you.
Anyway, wherever you read "newt" just replace that with "salamander" in your mind. But "newt" has so many more pun options. I couldn't think of any song lyric to use "salamander" in...]
We discovered someone creeping around our property the other night while gathering wood for a fire.
The Rough-Skinned Newt (Taricha granulosa) (I think)
Sure, he seemed nice enough and put up with being flipped around.
He had sweet eyes, in a bulbous, disgusting, sci-fi way.
But then I read if you eat one, you could DIE. Not just from being grossed out either, but from toxins he produces.
Wiki said this about toxicity of newts:
Many newts produce toxins in their skin secretions as a defense mechanism against predators. Taricha newts of western North America are particularly toxic; the Rough-skinned newt (Taricha granulosa) of the Pacific Northwest produces more than enough tetrodotoxin to kill an adult human. A 29-year-old man in Coos Bay, Oregon, who had been drinking heavily, swallowed a rough-skin newt Taricha granulosa for a dare. He died later that day despite hospital treatment.[7]
Most newts can be safely handled, provided that the toxins they produce are not ingested or allowed to come in contact with mucous membranes or breaks in the skin.[7] After handling, proper hand-washing techniques should be followed due to the risk from the toxins they produce and bacteria they carry, such as salmonella. [8][9].
So, look at them, take pictures of them, but remember, whatever you do, don’t SWALLOW the newt!
Class dismissed.
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7 Comments
January 12th, 2010 at 11:55 am
The next time anyone (eh-hem, husband) accuses me of wasting time reading blogs all day, I’m going to point him toward this little gem. Who knows? If it hadn’t been for your post, I may very well have fed my family newt stew for dinner and suffered the dire consequences.
Thank you for your selfless service to my family, nay, to the world! Now I better go spend a few more hours doing some serious blog surfing. I can’t imagine what other vital information I may be lacking!
January 12th, 2010 at 11:58 am
And now I have John Cleese stuck in my head:
“She turned me into a newt.”
“A newt?”
” . . . I got better.”
Brooke´s last blog ..Come out, come out . . .
January 12th, 2010 at 5:17 pm
I love that Beatles song…
I have seen lots of wildlife here on the peninsula but not a newt.
I’ll have to keep my eyes peeled…or bulgy, like the newt’s.
January 12th, 2010 at 7:48 pm
brooke, it is my pleasure to serve you, nay, humanity!
dumb, we just stumbled on this guy, but i heard the hubs saw another one tonite (how can he tell?).
January 13th, 2010 at 8:55 am
Ohhh, I love newts! Used to have a couple sorely neglected fire bellied newts as pets as a kid. One escaped, disappeared in the house, and we always thought the dog ate him. Now, probably not or that dog would have died a lot sooner, eH?
~Scout
Scout’s Honor´s last blog ..Oh, Good Gawd: WHY Bear?
January 13th, 2010 at 10:49 am
He looks like a very nice newt/salamander
Kathleen@ForgingAhead´s last blog ..Knowing Too Much Yet Not Enough
January 23rd, 2010 at 12:27 pm
Hi. I just found your blog by way of the mango post. The yummy mango post. And then I saw the creepy, slimy lizardy post, which admittedly I did not even read because I couldn’t scroll past it fast enough. Am I the first reader ever who commented on a post she never even read? Do I get points for honesty?
Kathy´s last blog ..Is A Bacon Intervention Next?
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