# I found some newts! Will they be okay? (Need answer fast!)
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-some-newts-will-they-be-okay-need-answer-fast/566827
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [January 8, 2011, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-some-newts-will-they-be-okay-need-answer-fast/566827 "2011-01-08T02:29:42Z")
**Posts on this page:** 17
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Stealth\_Potato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stealth_Potato)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2011, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-some-newts-will-they-be-okay-need-answer-fast/566827/1 "2011-01-08T02:29:42Z")
So I’m doing some emergency plumbing repairs, and just discovered — in my pump house, crowded together below a leaky section of pipe — what appears to be an entire family of newts! (Or some creature of similar description; I’m not entirely confident in my classification of Pacific northwest amphibians.)
[Here’s a photo of a couple of the little guys.](http://i.imgur.com/XCRsq.jpg) The ones pictured are around three inches long, including the tail.
There are four large-ish ones and what appears to be one tiny baby newt. Obviously I have to displace them from my pipes, but how can I make sure they’re going to be okay? Do newts hibernate? They seemed a little sluggish when I pulled them out. If I just dump them outside, will they be in danger of freezing to death? If they _were_ hibernating, and they’re awake now, am I going to just have to care for them and feed them until spring?? :eek:
For clarification, in case anybody here knows more about these things (have we got a Gussie Fink-Nottle in the house? :p), I’m near Seattle, Washington.
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### Author:  [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-some-newts-will-they-be-okay-need-answer-fast/566827/2 "2011-01-08T02:45:20Z")
Taking a guess: [Northwestern Salamander](http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&source=imghp&biw=1024&bih=591&q=northwestern+slamader&gbv=2&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=)? See if those pics look like your guys.
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### Author:  [@The\_Conqueror\_Worm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Conqueror_Worm)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2011, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-some-newts-will-they-be-okay-need-answer-fast/566827/3 "2011-01-08T02:48:28Z")
Begin to practice black magic (eye of newt and all of that.) At least then their deaths will go towards a good (?) cause.
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### Author:  [@kaiwik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaiwik)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2011, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-some-newts-will-they-be-okay-need-answer-fast/566827/4 "2011-01-08T02:54:25Z")
I believe that you have found _ensatine escholtzii_. They don’t hibernate but will go into torpor when the temps are low. I found this and other information [here](http://amphibiaweb.org/cgi/amphib_query?where-genus=Ensatina&where-species=eschscholtzii).
They are cute, we used to catch them as kids, also in the Seattle area. Good luck, with a terrarium you might want to keep one back as a pet!
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### Author:  [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2011, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-some-newts-will-they-be-okay-need-answer-fast/566827/5 "2011-01-08T03:18:15Z")
They’ll get better.
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### Author:  [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2011, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-some-newts-will-they-be-okay-need-answer-fast/566827/6 "2011-01-08T04:52:03Z")
[Ensatina](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ensatina), I’d say **moorland reiver** has it. It looks like the tail matches the description, and they have 5 rear toes. The coloration is classical too.
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### Author:  [@SmithCommaJohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmithCommaJohn)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2011, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-some-newts-will-they-be-okay-need-answer-fast/566827/7 "2011-01-08T05:40:34Z")
> [@dogbutler](#):
>
> They’ll get better.
Nice
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### Author:  [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2011, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-some-newts-will-they-be-okay-need-answer-fast/566827/8 "2011-01-08T06:03:41Z")
> [@dogbutler](#):
>
> They’ll get better.
I knew it was unlikely that I’d get into this thread fast enough, but I had to check.
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### Author:  [@Stealth\_Potato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stealth_Potato)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2011, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-some-newts-will-they-be-okay-need-answer-fast/566827/9 "2011-01-08T09:45:20Z")
Thanks, guys! Looks like _Ensatina_ is it. I’m going to relocate them to a larger container and keep them warm and fed at least for tonight, then tomorrow I’ll find a cozy place for them in the woods or something. Maybe a hollow beneath a tree? It’s probably going to be below freezing for a while, and we may get snow. Any idea how resistant they are to cold temperatures?
Anyway, a few more pictures of the cute little bastards for good measure:
[Sup, bitches!](http://i.imgur.com/pU3wh.jpg)
[I make my escape!](http://i.imgur.com/oXehC.jpg)
[They’re either using each other as climbing aids, or trying to start sexy times.](http://i.imgur.com/WfBjt.jpg)
[Either way, the one on the bottom didn’t appreciate it and retaliated with a swift kick to the stomach.](http://i.imgur.com/80SBh.jpg)
[The whole family, assembled.](http://i.imgur.com/xd1mK.jpg)
> [@dogbutler](#):
>
> They’ll get better.
Well played, sir. Well played. 😃
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### Author:  [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2011, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-some-newts-will-they-be-okay-need-answer-fast/566827/10 "2011-01-08T11:07:50Z")
I endorse this thread.
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### Author:  [@StrangerThanFiction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StrangerThanFiction)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2011, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-some-newts-will-they-be-okay-need-answer-fast/566827/11 "2011-01-08T15:11:06Z")
> [@dogbutler](#):
>
> They’ll get better.
Help me out here…
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### Author:  [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2011, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-some-newts-will-they-be-okay-need-answer-fast/566827/12 "2011-01-08T15:22:19Z")
I think the small one might be my newt:o
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### Author:  [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2011, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-some-newts-will-they-be-okay-need-answer-fast/566827/13 "2011-01-08T15:38:45Z")
Two things worth noting from the wiki article:
> [@](#):
>
> Because they breathe through their pores, distress in the animal can be caused by improper handling by human hands.
>
> They may exude a toxic milky secretion from the tail.
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### Author:  [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2011, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-some-newts-will-they-be-okay-need-answer-fast/566827/14 "2011-01-08T15:41:52Z")
> [@StrangerThanFiction](#):
>
> Help me out here…
Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Sir Bedevere: What makes you think she’s a witch?
Peasant 3: Well, she turned me into a newt!
Sir Bedevere: A newt?
Peasant 3: [meekly after a long pause] … I got better.
Crowd: [shouts] Burn her anyway!
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### Author:  [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2011, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-some-newts-will-they-be-okay-need-answer-fast/566827/15 "2011-01-08T17:07:57Z")
I must admit for disgusting creeping little things, they are kinda cute
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### Author:  [@Stealth\_Potato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stealth_Potato)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2011, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-some-newts-will-they-be-okay-need-answer-fast/566827/16 "2011-01-08T20:56:16Z")
> [@hibernicus](#):
>
> Two things worth noting from the wiki article:
Yeah, I noticed that, so I have been careful not to handle them any more than necessary. I made sure they had some water to muck around in, too. 🙂
This morning I took them out and found them a cozy new home beneath some old logs in the forest. They seemed to take to it pretty quickly; within a couple minutes they all plunged right into the leafy crud and disappeared.
[Freedom!](http://i.imgur.com/TiGBM.jpg)
[One more for good measure.](http://i.imgur.com/K06VD.jpg)
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### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2011, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-some-newts-will-they-be-okay-need-answer-fast/566827/17 "2011-01-09T00:51:25Z")
Cool!