 Question of the Week Answer
If you guessed C: Red-bellied newts have black eyes, you'd be correct!
While both the rough-skinned and California newt look similar to the red-bellied newt, they both have yellow patches of color in their eyes where the red-bellied newts have solid black eyes.
Beautiful red-bellied newts are a California native species found on your public lands in redwood and coastal forests from southern Humboldt County to Lake and Sonoma counties, like those at Headwaters Forest Reserve on BLM-managed public lands. They mainly live on land, but with fall rains, adults go on the move to find food, and eventually head to streams to reproduce. Typically, active at night and late afternoon, this newt species has an impressive longevity - estimated between 20 and 30 years! Their diet consists of many types of invertebrates (animals that lack backbones). Red-bellied newts have poisonous skin secretions called tetrodotoxin that causes paralysis to protect them from potential predators. If eaten in large quantities, red-bellied newts can kill most animals and even humans! However, their main predator, the common garter snake, has a high resistance to tetrodotoxin and can consume them without harm. Red-bellied newts are a California Species of Special Concern.
Visit our website for more information about Headwaters Forest Preserve.
Photo: Zane Ruddy, Fishery Biologist
Source: California Department of Fish and Wildlife
|
