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Very few sober people want to eat a newt. While this is commendable, it also coincides well with the newt's low opinion of being eaten. Once devoured, certain newts avenge the offender with a deadly toxin.

In Southeast Alaska, the semi-aquatic salamander known as the rough-skinned newt is one of those avengers. This small 3- or 4-inch amphibian goes largely unnoticed among us, hanging out in the forest where it keeps house under rocks, logs and leaf debris, or swimming about in a slow moving creek, pond or lake. I've run into a few newts on logging roads where, when approached too closely, they have defensively arched their tiny, brown backs to reveal their orange bellies, hoping I've heard about poison alerting colors for both our sakes.

When threatened beyond their comfort zone, rough-skinned newts will secrete a deadly neurotoxin from glands on their skin. Just one tiny newt delivers more than enough toxin to kill a healthy, adult human (if eaten or ingested through a break in skin). The toxin interferes with nerve cell function, and there is no antidote or remedy possible as I understand it.

Succumbing to an untimely death by newt is, of course, entirely preventable as long as we leave them alone. It's not like they are going to run over and gnaw on our ankles. They mind their own business.

Still, after watching rough-skinned newts for years and only recently learning about their potent toxin, it makes me glad I didn't happen to need that information when I had tadpole-catching, frog-licking future scientists and goofy dogs to watch out for.

The newts could be handled harmlessly but they are probably against it so why not observe these gentle, wild creatures from a non newt-stressing distance. One way to do that is by attending their mass migration.

In spring, newts travel en masse from the forest back to the creek or pond where they have the proper habitat for breeding. If you know a pond where newts are known to visit and can get the timing right, it is possible to see an aggregation of newts in migration. This is triggered in part by rainfall and a temperature around 41 degrees.

If you can get that worked out, there's still the consideration of what to wear to a newt migration. You're in Southeast Alaska, so if you bring raincoats and sunglasses, you'll have it covered. Just make sure you have cool, matching boots. You'll also need a properly filled picnic basket, a camera and maybe a parasol.

Tadpoles with feathery gills will emerge from the eggs which were deposited on underwater vegetation. They will soon begin a slow metamorphosis into air-breathing creatures with legs. Eventually most newts will leave the water to grow up in the forest for a few years before joining in the annual migration back to the breeding grounds, a journey described by one teenage newt as "a real swinging time."

Rough-skinned newts are amazing creatures, enjoying not only the ability to smite assailants but to repair themselves when injured. If you're ever tempted to assist a three-legged newt, stand down. It doesn't need a doctor and won't end up with airport security problems over its titanium hip. It can regenerate new limbs, eyes and spinal cord as well as repair its heart and more.

Newts are beyond amazing. I've never met one yet that I didn't like right away.