Newt News

I’m still confused as to whether yesterday’s “find” was a lizard or a newt, but I did find this intriguing information about newts on Wikipedia:-

“Although newts have a toxin on their skin, most newts can be safely handled, provided that the toxins they produce are not ingested or allowed to come in contact with mucous membranes or breaks in the skin. After handling, proper hand-washing techniques should be followed due to the risk from the toxins they produce and bacteria they carry, such as salmonella.  It is, however, illegal to handle or disturb Great Crested Newts in the UK without a licence.  A 29-year-old man in Coos Bay, Oregon, who had been drinking heavily, swallowed a rough-skin newt Taricha granulosa for a dare. He died later that day despite hospital treatment.

Folklore held that pigs in England could eat newts with impunity, while their French porcine cousins would die a horrible death from the same ingestion. Some Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest used Taricha newts to poison their enemies.^“