Ella Jung rescues a newt during the recent rains. California newts are indigenous to this area and come out during rainy nights. Mornings after a rain, many dead ones have been smashed by cars and are found on Orinda roads. Ella and her brother, Cameron Jung and mom, Sonja Ure, have been plucking newts from wet roads and saving them for the past six years. While they are not endangered, they are a California Special Concern species. Warning: The newts have a neurotoxin in their skins that is hundreds of times more toxic than cyanide and can be very dangerous if exposed to open wounds.
