Last night, as I was doing my usual walk around camp, I noticed what I thought was a California Newt lurking in the darkness by the ping pong tables. I touched its tail to speed it on its way, and it moved faster than a newt would (newts usually disdainfully curl their tails away from the point of contact and amble slowly away because they're too toxic for most animals to eat - this gives them a bit of a superiority complex). This animal gave a quick dash. I shined my light on it, and sure enough, it was a small Pacific Giant Salamander. Seeing an adult out on the trails is uncommon enough, but this was the very first time I'd seen one in the middle of camp. I continued walking, and before too long, got to point it out to four girls who were up to use the bathroom. They were interested, and possibly happy to be the only kids to get to see it. The hallowed exclusivity of nocturnal amphibian viewing is nothing to be sneezed at.
Later, after I'd finished my walk, I was inside the hub, watching a bad rip-off of Invasion of the Body Snatchers when I glanced down at the bottom window. I saw this:
It sat there for around an hour and a half, staring at me. Eventually, it got down from the little sill, and wandered off toward the lost & found shelf. By morning, it was nowhere to be seen.
No comments:
Post a Comment