Pacific Newt Roadkill: 146 found dead today; 1 alive & injured
March2, 2019 (Saturday) 8:00 am – 11:430 am
I found 146 dead newts on Alma Bridge Rd. this morning between the Vulcan Materials quarry and Aldercroft Heights Rd. I also found one injured newt next to the road. I picked it up and put it in the grass. On my return trip, it was still in the same place – hadn’t moved. I’m not sure it will survive. I covered it loosely with bigleaf maple leaves.
See: https://www.inaturalist.org/calendar/truthseqr/2019/3/2
Other roadkill: Two frogs, a mouse, and possibly a Hermit Thrush
Coverage: (~85%) Vulcan Materials quarry to Aldercroft Heights Rd.
Rainfall: (MTD: 1.48 in; YTD: 20.64 in) It was pouring rain all morning. We had 1.39 inches of rain today.
Traffic: Lots of cars going and coming from the Los Gatos Rowing Club. At 9am I counted ~30 people out on the reservoir. If each of those kids are dropped off and picked up by their parents, then each car traverses Alma Bridge Rd. 4 times (in-out-in-out). If this happens hourly, then it’s the equivalent of 120 cars driving on Alma Bridge Rd. per hour. If there are hourly classes, then this could happen multiple times. For example, if there are 4 classes, the traffic is the equivalent of 480 each Saturday morning. No wonder the roadkill is so high along this 1-mile stretch of Alma Bridge Rd. Not to mention that most of the cars are speeding. I’d guess the average speed is about 40 mph on this 25 mph road (15 mph around curves like Limekiln Canyon). Very little traffic south of the rowing club – less than 10 cars.