Thanks to the Newt Roadkill Survey Team (2019-2020 Migration Season)
As we head into the last month of the Pacific newt migration season, I'd like to send out our thanks and deepest gratitude to the Newt Roadkill Survey Team (@merav, @sea-kangaroo, @newtpatrol, @anudibranchmom, @joescience1) for their work at Lexington Reservoir during the 2019-2020 migration season.
The last month is possibly the most difficult. Volunteers are exhausted both mentally & physically from taking pictures of thousands upon thousands of dead creatures on the road. Just when they think the carnage might be over, it rains and more newts brave the road only to have the life snuffed out of them. It weighs you down. It's difficult and dangerous work. Not many people appreciate their efforts.
Team, please know that I and the mitigation team (UC Davis Road Ecology Center, CA Fish & Wildlife, USGS Ecology, Sierra Club, Audubon Society, Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, Peninsula Open Space Trust and others) truly appreciate the work you've done.
So far, this study has documented 10,117 dead newts plus 180 roadkill observations of 33 other species over two and a half migration seasons.
Fraser Shilling, Ph.D., director of the UC Davis Road Ecology Center at UC Davis recently said, "I don't think there has been a study anywhere in the world that has found a higher density of amphibian mortality from traffic than this one."
You all have contributed to a landmark study. Thank you for your time and effort.
