Thursday, March 1, 2012

Started working on my taxes yesterday, after I went to check on the eggs.  While I was there I saw this:
It's a "Red Spotted [or Eastern] Newt" and apparently, that's what is growing inside all of the eggs:
When I read about them, their cycle of life is amazing!  They actually have three cycles: the aquatic larva or tadpole, the red eft or terrestrial juvenile stage, and the aquatic adult. The larva possesses gills and does not leave the pond environment where it was hatched. Larvae are brown-green in color, and shed their gills when they transform into the terrestrial red eft. The red eft is bright orangish-red in color, with darker red spots outlined in black. An eastern newt can have as many as 21 of these spots. The pattern of these spots differs among the subspecies. During this stage, the eft may travel far, acting as a dispersal stage from one pond to another, ensuring outcrossing in the population. After two or three years, the eft finds a pond and transforms into the aquatic adult. The adult's skin is olive green, but retains the eft's characteristic outlined red spots. It has a larger and wider tail and characteristically slimy skin. [source].  Isn't that amazing!!  They can live up to 15 years!  Wayne said I should write a children's book about them.  I think I'll call it "The Adventures of the Red Spotted Newt"....and he'll accidentally travel all the way to Europe and back.  I'll keep you posted on that.  It will be fun!
It's a beautiful day!  I think I'm going to head out with my camera and enjoy it!  Happy Thursday!

love & peace always ~ Kathy

"Perhaps our natural gifts elude us because they are so obvious." ~ Sue Bender

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