NEWT

A wee homage to my absolute favorite wee forest creature - the Eastern Newt. This illustration is the newt in its terrestrial juvenile eft stage.

Their life cycle is pretty amazing. They begin their lives as completely aquatic little babies. In about 2-3 months they will shed their gills and crawl ashore as the bright orange efts. In this stage they explore their world, sometimes traveling far to find new water sources.

After 2-3 years the eft will return to the water to complete the transition into adulthood. Adult Eastern Newts are a dull olive green in color and become fully aquatic once more as they leave their juvenile stage.

My absolute favorite part of summer is finding that I am sharing a trail with one of these little orange friends. Such a delightful treat :)