[steve_adams_86]

Christ, I handled these as a kid quite a bit. Add that to the list of reasons I will wonder how I survived past age 10.

I used to keep native snakes and lizards (and inadvertently breed them!), and couldn’t keep newts because I wasn’t sophisticated enough to create the right environments for them. This is one species I kept (and killed, unfortunately). I’ve learned to do it far better since then, but haven’t tried keeping newts again. They’re beautiful little creatures.

[dado3212]

I also handled these all the time as a kid in northern Oregon, literally hundreds in a day because they would hang out in a series of lakes nearby. Is there a non-poisonous rough-skinned newt variant? I find it impossible to believe that as a young kid I wouldn’t have licked my fingers after years of doing this.

[boogieknite]

few more generations of handling these lil friends and maybe we can get aposematic coloring in humans

[steve_adams_86]

Maybe we’re already in the afterlife. How would we know any different, really? Bested by newts

[munificent]

I'm not aware of other newt species in their range that look similar.

I do think the article plays up their toxicity some. There's only one reported human fatality I could find, from some dipshit who ate one on a dare. If you handle them gently and don't stuff your entire hand in your mouth immediately after, I suspect you're fine.

[zonkerdonker]

Same here. I had no idea they were this toxic, I feel like someone should have told us this as children!