Newt-Fest in Sproul State Forest!

It was shaping up to be a beautiful afternoon, and my husband and I took off for Sproul State Forest. There is a campsite there that we call Pine Glen, which has a pretty little pond nearby, and so we hiked in, but only for the day.

We went to the pond first, and what a newt-fest we discovered! It is usually my personal approach to NOT touch the wildlife, but I adore newts, and I couldn't help myself. I did pick up two newts. T. Tiger, sitting in my chair, watched with great interest. "She's just gotta touch it!" my husband moaned from shore. (See related video clip from the film The Lost World.)

One newt was one of the usual browny-green ones, but this one was a bit more orange (but not nearly as bright orange as a red eft). Each one was out of the water for less than half a minute. The pond water, for any who may be interested, is rather stinky. There were amphibian eggs everywhere and the newts appeared to be eating them!

The newt in the main photo is the same orangish newt that appears to the left in the photo in the extras; so that you may see the difference in colors of newts, I snapped the photo at the time that a browny-green one entered the scene. Aren't they adorable? (Also included: bonus water bug.)

It was hard to put the newts down and move on, but we eventually did. We spent the rest of the afternoon at our campsite, hanging out, listening to music, reading our books. It was much cooler there than it was here, and I put on almost every item I had in my daysack before it was over.

That's a good reminder for April. Don't be an April fool! In April, the weather can be quite changeable across distance and time. So prepare for conditions in which you might need to take off - or put on - two to three layers, as the day progresses. And then it was time to go home after about four hours of hiking in the woods of Sproul. What a grand adventure we had!

The soundtrack song is for my husband, who verbalized his distress at my newt-handling capabilities: MC Hammer, with U Can't Touch This.

More info about newts:
Eastern newt - Wikipedia
Eastern newt - Smithsonian (includes a short video at top of page)
Red-spotted newt - Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, U of Georgia (includes a photo of a red eft)