The border collies and I have been encountering little plastic dinosaurs all over the farm since I’ve been here. Chloe finds them particularly delicious, so I try to spot them before she does. So this morning, when I saw a small, brightly-colored lizzard-like thing at the edge of the woods, I assumed it was another in the series.
It took me longer that I’d like to admit to realize that this was a living amphibian rather than a toy reptile. I did eventually catch up with reality and figure out that this was a juvenile salamander, known variously as a red eft, red-spotted newt, eastern newt, or Notophthalmus viridescens. Here it is with a conveniently available border collie paw for scale:
And a couple glamour shots:
