Salamander hunting in the Pacific Northwest

[ambertastic]

A friend of mine and I are planning a camping trip in the Olympic Peninsula (WA state) and thought it would be fun to see what newts/salamanders we can find while we're out enjoying the temperate rainforest! I'm a novice when it comes to caudates - I know I can research to my hearts content but if any of you have any suggestions/knowledge of what we might look for in the area, it'd be much appreciated!

 

[Kaysie]

It would probably be worthwhile to pick up a field guide. I recommend Peterson's, but any field guide to Washington herps would be fine.

 

[bewilderbeast]

Yes the peterson's guide to western herps is spectacular, written and illustrated by my personal hero, Robert C. Stebbins...

A couple of species to look for would be the copes giant salamander, the olympic torrent salamander, western redback salamander, long toed salamander, oregon ensatina, vandykes salamander, and the rough back newt...

washington has some pretty strict protection laws for herps so just be aware of that...

happy herping

 

[paulrust]

I don't know a lot about the other species mentioned but the rough skinned newt is deady poisonous if ingested, not that you would eat it. I have several at home and because they are particularly dangerous I wash my hands very well after handling.

P.S. The toxin is secreted from the center of the back along the entire length of the body.

 

[TaronLanghover]

You will find your hunting to be very wonderful in that area. I recommend looking near fresh streams and there you should find plenty of the newts and breeding salamanders. Just find a good forest and flip logs as well but make sure to put the homes back where you moved them from. You should also take the time to check out a oregon orange spotted garter snake. They are amazing and with some luck you might find one up that way