Annual newt migration across busy road persists despite hazards

Published January 27, 2026

BY GRIFFIN STEELY

Though often hidden among leaves, branches and mulch, newts, an amphibian closely related to the salamander, are currently migrating statewide to their mating grounds. Locally, this involves crossing Carmel Valley Road, which researchers say is challenging for these slow, plodding creatures who often get flattened by unknowing drivers.

“In the winter, [newts] migrate to breeding ponds all around the landscape,” says Jen Hunter, resident director of the Hastings Natural History Reservation. “They all seem to know what’s happening and start migrating at the same time.” 

California newts, or Taricha torosa, are endemic to California, ranging from Mendocino County in the north to San Diego County in the south, with some isolated pockets in the western slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Currently migrating during the rainy season, the newts can be seen crossing all along Carmel Valley Road, with a hotspot around the 26-mile-marker, about three miles past Tassajara Road. 

Many newts never make it across to reach their mating ponds. After a big storm early in the season, one Hastings researcher set out to count the number of newt casualties. 

“My guess before I went out there was that it would be around 30,” says biologist Natalia Valdes Heredia. “After I passed 100, I realized this was way bigger than I thought.” 

In total, Heredia counted 116 dead newts in a 100-yard stretch of Carmel Valley Road, creatures that she explains are being unintentionally slaughtered by drivers, but are some of the most interesting animals on the planet.

“Califoria newts have a toxin in their skin, so when they see predators they do this amazing back-arch display, showing off their colorful underbelly,” says Hunter. “When people move them off the roads, we always caution them to wash their hands afterward.”

This toxin is a Tetrodotoxin, or TTX, a potent neurotoxin that is famously found in pufferfish. 

“If you go to Berkeley, collect a newt, extract all the TTX and use it as an injection, it could kill 100 people,” explains Shawn Kuchta, a professor at Ohio University who got his PhD studying newts at U.C. Berkeley.

While this sounds dangerous, newts are safe to pick up and hold as long as the budding naturalist makes sure to wash their hands afterwards.

“If you don’t eat one, you could hold a newt safely,” confirms Kuchta. “So you don’t have to be afraid of them. They’re not venomous, they’re just toxic.”

Experts say there are several things drivers can do if they know newts are crossing. The first is to be aware that newts are likely to be crossing the road during and after rains both day and night on Carmel Valley Road around the 26-mile marker, headed to and from ponds for breeding. Secondly, it’s important to drive cautiously, and if it is safe, drivers can pull to the side of the road and carefully pick up the newt and move it in the direction it was heading. 

“Drive carefully and slowly in areas you know there are newt crossings,” says Kannon Pearson, a graduate student in the Department of Integrative Biology at U.C. Berkeley. “They are safe to touch, but make sure your hands are clean and that you wash them after.”

These newts have an essential role in their ecosystem. Kuchta and Pearson both say that newts are a top predator in the food chain and removing them would create imbalance in populations of other species, such as flies and other creatures that lay eggs in water. 

The newts will finish their migration and return to their regular territories around March.