The genus Taricha, or Pacific newts, includes four species of toxic cuties: the California newt, the rough-skinned newt, the red-bellied newt and the Sierra newt. These semiaquatic, nocturnal amphibians live in misty forests from Alaska to Southern California, seeking underground spots like rodent burrows or cracks in granite where they can stay cool and moist.
When the winter rains arrive, they emerge from their hidey-holes and migrate to lakes and streams to breed, skipping years when it’s too hot and dry to travel or the wet season is late.
After breeding, females return to their forest hideaways, while males linger to cannibalize a few eggs and larvae before following suit. Pacific newts are indiscriminate diners: They eat mostly bugs and worms but will happily devour other amphibian eggs — even other unfortunate amphibians, if they can get their jaws around them. Not too many predators eat Pacific newts, according to Julie Vance, an environmental program manager at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Instead, their biggest threats include climate irregularities and roads that separate their forest homes from breeding waters. In some areas, California has listed Taricha as a “Species of Special Concern” and is encouraging building tunnels under roads to reduce mortality.
THAT’S AMORE
If you see an underwater mass of newts in the wintertime, that’s a mating ball. There’s a lone female somewhere in the center. Pray for her.
POP ART
Pacific newts usually lay their eggs on submerged roots or sticks. “Unlike a lot of other amphibians, their eggs are not like a squishy loose water sack,” said Vance, adding that it’s firm and “feels kind of like silicone. And when those eggs hatch, it almost looks like popped bubble wrap.”
DOOM TOXIN
The newt’s bumpy skin glands produce tetrodotoxin, the neurotoxin in pufferfish and blue-ringed octopuses, which Vance calls “more hardcore” than common alkaloid amphibian skins. If you eat a newt (please don’t), death begins with a tingling that spreads from the mouth to the extremities. The colorless tetrodotoxin crystals block sodium intake, shutting down nerves and muscles. About an hour of nausea, floating sensations or feelings of doom precede total respiratory collapse. There is no antidote.
NEWT PATROL
In the Santa Cruz Mountains, newts migrate to and from the banks of Lexington Reservoir every year for mating season. The journey involves crossing Alma Bridge Road, a winding mountain lane that kills thousands of newts each season. A band of citizen scientists called the California Newt Patrol has stepped in to assist. According to their numbers, newt deaths on Alma Bridge Road have declined. But it’s not because more newts are surviving: There just aren’t that many newts anymore.
WHEREABOUTS
Pacific newts live all along the West Coast, with Sierra newts holing up as far inland as the Sierra Nevada.
TAG, YOU’RE IT
Newts, including Taricha, can regrow lost limbs and toes. This means biologists can’t toe-clip a Pacific newt to tag it; that toe will just fall off and later reappear. Instead, scientists tag newts with injected or implanted PIT tags, like the microchips used for pets.
FAFO YOGA
When threatened, newts flash their bright underbellies to warn predators about their poison. This is called aposematism, i.e., the FAFO (fuck around and find out) signal, which dares anyone to try. Females are more toxic than males, though it’s unclear why. Rough-skinned newts, which live farther north, are the most toxic of the four species — especially the ones in northern Oregon. An urban legend from Oregon’s Coast Range claims that three hunters died when they drank Taricha coffee after a newt got into their camp kettle. Newts on Vancouver Island and around Crater Lake, however, produce less poison.
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This article appeared in the May 2026 print edition of the magazine with the headline “Get to know the Pacific newt.”
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