Ah, newts! I have two lovely newts in a big tank here, who have lived
with me for about 20 years. I've been a newt fan since I was a tiny
niblet.
I have heard that newts do make a noise. My knowledge is old and
anecdotal, and concerns mostly our local Rough Skinned Newts - who
are a lovely chocolate brown above, and have orange bellies.
My newts don't do this, but I have heard that newts do make a sort of
we small bark. It's not common, but I have heard it does happen. I
think it's part of a sort of territory display they make to other
newts, or a protective display they make to tell predators "I don't
taste good!" (These newts have poison in their skin, and the orange
belly says "stay away.") The visual element is that they will arch
their heads and tails back so head and tail almost touches, exposing
the belly. And I have heard that the do make small, newtly barks. But
all the newts I've met in the wild seem super-calm, so I've never
actually heard the sound. I would love to!
A great place for info. on newts is Caudata.org - http://www.caudata.org
Hope this helps - and let me know what else you find out, this is a
subject dear to my heart.
- H
Heather Perkins
Sound Designer - Composer - Mad Scientist
WaterDog Studio & Land-O-Newts! Records
On Oct 22, 2007, at 7:44 AM, Bruce wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I got an email from a doctor in the UK asking me if newts make sounds,
> whether in ultrasonic or human hearing range. I never heard
> anything from a
> newt, but I never studied them in detail. Anyone know if newts in
> general
> make any noise?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Bruce Rutkoski
> www.natureguystudio.com
>
>
>
>
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