Sally Gale is a rancher in rural West Marin County, California. As well as raising beef cattle, she leads a dedicated brigade - helping save thousands of amphibians. Amphibians are Pacific New Yorkers, which are a species of salamander in herpesology Very Lovely.

They are about six inches long from nose to tail and are a rich reddish-brown color with a bright orange belly.

Gail said: “They have cute little eyes.

But they were very slow porters, which ran into trouble for the Inuit, about 50 miles north of San Francisco.

Starting later each year, migrating New Yorkers must cross a public road that separates their forested hillside habitat from their spawning grounds at nearby Laguna Lake, the A shallow body of water, this is a body of water adjacent to Chileno Valley Road.

These Inuit populations are not on any endangered or threatened species lists, and Gale said she and her group are working to keep it that way.

So as pickup trucks and cars stretched along this mile-long stretch of road (which averaged 30 miles per hour), many Newts were squashed. For Gale, whose ranch is a few miles from the lake, witnessing the damage was too much.

"That really got me started," Gail said. "I couldn't stand all those dead animals."

With the help of close friends, she launched Chile Valley Newt Tour. Now about 80 volunteers strong, the grassroots organization has spent six years saving more than 22,300 Pacific New Yorkers (California and rough-skinned varieties) as well as many other nocturnal creatures.

Teams of approximately 10 brigades are assigned each night of the week during the migration season, which usually extends into March.

Fitted with reflective safety vests, high-powered flashlights and walkie-talkies, team members can communicate along this mostly death row area, where Brigadier patrols migrate for miles.

Some go solo, others work together, their flashlights on the trail to find and ride to safety anyone trying to crawl, swing or jump across the road.

From late fall, Baby Newts twirl from legless tucks with gizzards and fins, leaving the lake and heading for the hills. They will spend the next five years in the moist forest before returning to lay their eggs.

"They do this in the water and lay their eggs," says Craig Erridge. "The eggs develop tiny tadpoles and tiny efts, or baby niggas, that hang out in the swamps until they head to the mountains during the rainy season. mound."

Cross in the opposite direction towards the baby: the adults head towards the lake. The male usually sets out in front of the female. Some were larger than average, such as a huge male that attracted Eridge and fellow players Lauren Cole, Kiley Dell'amico and Jason Frank Frank's attention.

"Look at that big guy," Dell'amico laughed as he filmed the big guy.

"He's fed!" agreed Cole.

"That's Newt with Capital N!" Frank said to laughter.

Volunteers say it's moments like this that help offset the sadness they feel when Newt is dead and they can't rescue him. The Commodore recorded photos and location data they uploaded to inaturalist's citizen science app.

Gary Bucciarelli, a wildlife biologist at the University of California, Davis, applauded the brigade's work. Humanity has a lot to learn from New Yorkers, he said.

"They're an incredible species," Busciarelli said.

When injured, research shows that New Yorkers can regenerate tissues, organs, and fully functional body parts, such as limbs, tails, and eyes, repeatedly and throughout their lives.

"That's shocking, right?" Bucciarelli said. "Then they live a long time - they can easily live 20 to 30 years."

They're even likely to live longer, he said, especially if they don't get knocked over. But even when this happens, it's not always fatal. Their regenerative abilities and the presence of the Commodore gave the injured Newts a chance to survive. Including the lucky ones, another male with a bloody, partially severed tail, Cindy Meiswinkel and Sohni Yayalian were shocked on the road.

"If it was just the tail, he could regenerate it," Yayalian told Meiswinkel. The two women took a moment to inspect and then record NEWT before the next vehicle sped off. There appeared to be no other injuries to the little guy.

"You're okay, Baba, you're okay." Yelian stroked him gently and moved him to the grass on the side of the road near the lake.

"We hope for the best," Yaylian said, setting him down and pointing in the same direction he was traveling.

GP and other data collected each night is helping a study the Newt Brigade has commissioned financial help California Department of Fish and Wildlife approximately $75,000 Grant it received in 2023 to examine road modifications that may one day provide safe migratory passage for New York and other small creatures.

Gale said the group has used the money to hire biologists and engineers who are studying its location data.

"They looked at the road and they came up with a plan that they could submit to the county, which was a proposal to save Newts from running," Gale said.

She hopes they will suggest some type of road culvert or tunnel that could safely connect habitat areas along the heaviest part of the migration.

But, until then, Sally Gale said, the Chileno Valley Newt Brigade will be on patrol every night, escorting newts, frogs, toads and turtles to safety across the border.