Pacific Newt Roadkill: 230 found dead today; 2 alive

March 20, 2019 (Wednesday) 9:45 am – 11:45 am

I found 230 dead newts on Alma Bridge Rd. this morning in 2 hours. Since I was only able to cover 40% of the study area, the actual death toll for today was probably closer to 400. I also saw two live newts on the road heading toward the water. I helped one across the road. There was no place to stop to help the other one.

I saw a road crew putting up the County’s “Newt Crossing” signs. I don’t know who decided on the placement of these signs, but they’re not even near the hot spots. In my opinion, they won’t help at all (they should’ve save their money for a more effective solution). I overheard the road crew talking about the newts – one man said, “What are you supposed to do? Stop to help a newt across the road and cause an accident?” Another man was walking the road looking at the roadkill and shaking his head. People care, but they don’t know what to do.

See: https://www.inaturalist.org/calendar/truthseqr/2019/3/20

Coverage: (~41%) St. Joseph’s Hill OSP to the stop sign. (1.7 miles)

Rainfall: (MTD: 3.88 in; YTD: 23.04 in) It rained off and on this morning.

Traffic: There were a handful of cars and pickups. Some were driving the speed limit (25 mph), others were speeding. I saw a couple of big trucks entering the Vulcan quarry. There were road maintenance crews clearing rock and mudslides and putting up signs.

Posted on March 21, 2019 12:28 PM by truthseqr