Eye of Newt

Eye of newt, and toe of frog

Wing of bat, and tongue of dog,

Adder's fork, and blind worm's sting

Lizard's leg, and howlet's wing

For a charm of powerful trouble,

Like a Hell-broth, boil and bubble

Shakespeare doesn't normally show up on my morning walks, but He did this morning. These are one of my favorite little guys in the fall. They are really around all year long, but the heat and undergrowth keeps them hidden under logs and such. In the fall, they start to show up, brazenly walking along the dirt roads of Rutland State Park. They can be brazen too... because they're poisonous. There really aren't too many poisonous animals in New England, but these guys are. They are pretty special little guys actually. Several myths, other than Shakespeare's nice archaic addition, exist surrounding salamanders. One is that they are oblivious to fire. This probably comes from the fact that they live in wet logs... which may repel the heat of a fire for a while. When the fire finally gets too hot, the salamander leaves and crawls (hopefully) out of the fire. Also, they tend to be brightly colored or spotted with bright colors. This little guy certainly is.

The Eastern Red Spotted Newt. This is it's land phase, and when they're in their land phase, they're called an even more ethereal-greek, Narniac, Harry-Potterish sounding name, an Eft. Sounds like they should be hanging out with Mr. Tumnus. I know they're poisonous, but it certainly doesn't stop me from picking them up every time I see one. There is something about their little feet... I don't know... just so cute! They don't bite, like a snake, and even if they did I would be fine. The poison isn't in their saliva, it comes out of their skin when they are attacked. That's one of the reasons that they are so brightly colored when in their land phase. If a naive Robin were to take one for a meal, he would probably not forget the stomach problems he would have after. No more bright orange salamanders for him. When the EFT is in either of its water phases, it is green with a yellow or orangeish belly. The bright  red spots on its back remain. 

They live a pretty long life, upward of 15 to 25 (one actually lived in containment for 25) years. The first few years they live in the water, they are an undeveloped juvenile. They then move to their land phase and can stay on land for seven years. When they are fully adults and ready to mate, they move back to the water and live out their days there. 

Shakespeare's witches in Macbeth weren't far off in their potion making. I mean they are poisonous, and if they really needed an eyeball to make the thing especially piquant, then a newt would probably be a good choice. They can grow them back. Newts have a layer of cells hugging close to their "rods and cones" called a retinal pigment epithelium. This is pretty much a series of stem cells that convert new growing cells into those necessary to grow the whole thing back. Scientists are obviously picking out their eyes by the hundreds and harvesting the cells. Actually, they are being contained in a nice building in Rensselaer, New York.  

I don't pick out their eyeballs. I just think they are about the cutest thing you could probably pick up in New England in the fall. 

db