Pacific Newt Roadkill: 363 found dead; 2 alive; 1 fatally injured
January 12, 2019 (Saturday)
I took 508 pictures of dead newts this morning: 272 fresh, 236 decomposed. After comparing the decomposed newt pictures to those from previous days, I ended up adding 91 of the 236 to the project; the others were either duplicates or too decayed to recognize. Total added to project: 363
I saw 2 live newts. One was mutilated – its injuries were surely fatal. It painfully lifted its head up and down. It brought tears to my eyes.
See: https://www.inaturalist.org/calendar/truthseqr/2018/1/12
Coverage: (76%) I surveyed the section between Priest Rock Trailhead and Aldercroft Rd.
Rainfall: (MTD: 1.65 in; YTD: 7.86 in) It rained the last few days and the street was wet this morning.
Traffic: There was a lot of traffic due to an event at the Los Gatos Rowing Club (LGRC). I saw 61 cars parked along the road near the LGRC and their parking lot was full. Cars were coming and going in a steady stream. I'd guess a couple hundred cars passed through there this morning.
Note: This journal post was updated on 02/10/2019 with the latest information: fresh vs. decomposed carcasses, % Coverage, Rainfall, Traffic, and link to observations. The total count was also updated.
Comments
Thanks for documenting all of these roadkill newts -- this information is really valuable, despite being a total bummer.
Hi Sam, thanks for your support. Some folks are offended by these postings and have left rude comments. Believe me, there is no joy in doing this, but the newts deserve a spokesperson. Last year I only did the roadkill count on 2 days - all those dead bodies made my guts knot up in horror. But this year, I've committed to doing a count at least once per week because I don't think anyone else is doing it. Most people probably don't even know this carnage is happening. I'm hoping that the agencies in this area (Santa Clara County Roads, SCC Water, Los Gatos Rowing Club, Vulcan Quarry, MROSD, SCC Parks) will take action to either close the road or put structures in place to help the newts cross the roads safely. Right now, nothing is being done.
You said this information is really valuable. Please elaborate. I need to know the countless hours I'm spending on this project are helping in some way.
Well, this article talks a bit about the importance of documenting roadkill:
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/08/roadkill-animals-disposal-science-food/
It's valuable to collect data for questions that haven't even been asked yet! So, these roadkill observations give information on the seasonality of Pacific Newts, their distribution, their relative abundance, and will show changes over time. I'm sorry that you've gotten rude comments on your observations (too graphic or too repetitive?) but please recognize that you're adding extremely valuable digital vouchers of this species existence in space and time.
I think roadkill is one of the most important documentations we can do on iNaturalist -- it shows the interaction between the organism and humans, and it shows that this organism did exist here and then. And, as you're accumulating this database of roadkill observations, perhaps some policy or land management decisions can be influenced. This part is a bit more tricky and rides the tides of political pressures, but it can be extremely meaningful when decisions are made.
So, please, keep it up! :)
Thanks so much for your comments, Sam. It means a lot to me. There have been many times when I thought about just giving up on this, especially since it seems it may not be possible to do anything about it. But now that you've given me more reasons to continue, I have renewed energy for this grim task.
The rude comments came from a herpetologist. For example, he wrote: "someone is really bored," "I can see why you'd post 2 pictures for point A and B, and enter a comment about how many you found dead - why you have to post all of them, I don't even want to know," and the winner "I don't understand why some people feel the need to lie". He later removed his comments, but he never apologized.
Watch the water bounce of the back of a duck! ;) Don't let comments like that hinder your interests.
I love to think of the future naturalists and their questions -- when I worked in the herbarium, we would use specimens from the early 1900's to address questions of CO2 in the atmosphere. The botanists that collected those specimens likely didn't collect for this sort of question, but we used their data and specimens to address our questions. There's a lot of power in big data like this -- so, please, keep it up! :)
I love your analogy about water on a duck's back. I'll etch that in my brain. Thanks!
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