Case Study #1: Ten newts found in am, only one left by pm

This info was extracted from a comment by @merav. She and I did a team patrol on the morning of Jan 19, 2019. She wrote the following:

" I was there again in the afternoon for a hike, and was surprised to see that almost all the newts we saw in the morning just by the limekiln trailhead were gone. In the morning there were at least 10 dead newts. By 4 pm they were all gone, but 1 that was still there."

In other words, 90% of the dead newts "disappeared" within 8 hrs (8am - 4pm) on a busy weekend by the Limekiln trailhead.

Reference: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/pacific-newts-dead-2018-2019-lexington-reservoir-area/journal/20936-268-pacific-newts-found-dead-today-no-live-ones-seen

Posted on January 20, 2020 09:02 PM by truthseqr truthseqr

Comments

i will say i move some to the side of the road as i go along... some i just can't stand to leave there to be further flattened. i would estimate i move 10-15% usually the freshest and saddest looking ones. :(

this is a large gap though to get to your 65-90% vanishing rate, and i have only gone out to count 3 times.

scavengers, other people moving them, rain/sheeting water, sticking to tires, ... something is removing them from the road?

scavengers during the day - seems unlikely (plus what eats newts?)
other people moving them - seems unlikely
rain/sheeting water - didn't rain on the day of your observations
sticking to tires - while i wouldn't guess at first seems most likely of my hypotheses

Posted by joescience1 about 4 years ago

Thanks for your comments, Joe (@joescience1 ).

Please see my comment for the following post for a list of scavengers that eat newts: https://www.inaturalist.org/posts/30234-case-study-2-64-of-dead-newts-disappeared-from-the-road-in-4-days#activity_comment_3957776

Of these scavengers, only the corvids would likely be out during the daytime. I think it's highly unlikely that raccoons or skunks are responsible for the newt roadkill that disappeared in this case (and I don't think there are any otters in this area).

Note that the Limekiln trailhead area has roadside parking for about 10-15 cars. People are coming and going all day long, starting at sunrise (about 7am this time if year).

Posted by truthseqr about 4 years ago

I agree that most of the disappearing newts are either carried away on car tires or obliterated by multiple run-overs. The traffic throughput on weekends during boating season is sometimes as high as 90+ vehicles per hour. Imagine what a small, soft-bodied newt looks like after it's been run over by hundreds of vehicles.

Posted by truthseqr about 4 years ago

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