Giant California Salamander
Ok so how many of you know the difference between a salamander and a newt? I didn’t. While moving the plastic in our yard to cover a new section of weeds, I came across this large salamander. It was about 9 inches long including the tail. I spent some time looking it up on the web and I believe it is a Coastal Giant Salamander and they can get up to 13 inches. They are the biggest salamanders in California. By the way, all newts are salamanders but not all salamanders are newts. Newts tend to be more aquatic but it really comes down to only certain genus members are considered newts.