So What’s Newt?
Did you know that newts are poisonous? They have glands on their skin that secrete a neuro-toxin. The toxin is similar to that of a pufferfish. Did you know that ingesting one rough skin newt can kill a large college student? In fact, the second most poisonous newt in the world is the California Newt.
The picture above is of an Arboreal Newt. My cat brings in three to four of these a night - all sizes. Apparently, now that our court is half-empty and has been for over a year - with neighbors turning their homes over to the bank, nature has returned with a vengeance and we are overrun with Arboreal Newts. I really don’t care…they’re kinda cute in a squishy sort of Martian-like yucky way, but they are poisonous and my cat carries his newt around as if it’s a delicate crystal figurine, gagging and wheezing and frothing at the mouth all the while. He drops it on my foot - if I happen to be awake, or on my neck, if I happen to be asleep.
As a consequence, I’ve stopped sleeping. I’m terrified he’ll drop a newt on my face and it will crawl into my mouth. This habit he’s developed is taking a toll on me. I go flying out of bed at the slightest movement, sound, imagined slow-motion newt wiggle.
I’m trying to decide what the fascination is - does my cat get this weird newt high from the toxin, you know…like toad licking? Or does he just want me to know newts are intruding upon his territory? Or does he want me to lick them and join in on his newt-induced acid trip? He doesn’t eat them - he would be very dead if he did, and he doesn’t kill them either. We release them in various areas and the next night, he finds more. My husband says the cat is probably building up an immunity to newt toxin much like the Dread Pirate Roberts did in The Princess Bride with iocaine poison.
The interesting thing about our lack of neighbors is the very notable increase in birds, frogs, hawks, owls, newts, snakes…we’ve always had raccoons and possums, skunks and squirrels, but now we’ve got a bobcat hunting in the court - he grabbed a raccoon off our roof recently. Those of us remaining on the court have noticed a dramatic increase in wildlife - we live just a road away from open space - in a single year of decreased human activity.
Tonight I’m locking the cats in.
