Newts/orange bellied newts

Description:

A stocky, medium-sized salamander with rough, grainy skin in the terrestrial phase, and no costal grooves. Terrestrial adults are yellowish-brown to dark brown above, pale yellow to orange below. Breathes through lungs. Terrestrial and diurnal, often seen crawling over land in the daytime, becoming aquatic when breeding.

Habitat:

California newts exist primarily on the California coastline and in the Sierra Nevada.

Notes:

Poisonous skin secretions containing tetrodotoxin repel most predators. This potent neurotoxin is widespread throughout the skin, muscles, and blood, and can cause death in many animals, including humans, if eaten in sufficient quantity. This poison can also be ingested through a mucous membrane or a cut in the skin, so care should always be taken when handling newts. In most locations the Common Gartersnake, Thamnophis sirtalis, is has a high resistance to this poison, and is known to prey on Coast Range Newts.