These little guys (about 2" long) were very abundant along the trails in Moreau Lake State Park, New York.

This is only the juvenile stage. Unlike most other land-dwelling salamanders, the red eft is not a secretive creature and can often be seen walking along the forest floor during the day, especially after a summer rain. Its bright orange coloration warns predators that secretions in its skin are toxic and they had better leave it alone. It will spend two to five years, possibly up to nine years, living on land in this red eft stage, feeding on small invertebrates on the forest floor. And then another transformation begins.

As the red eft matures into an adult red-spotted newt, its coloration changes once again. What was once a brilliant orange juvenile becomes an olive-green adult. (It keeps the red spots encircled in black.) And, it heads back to the water.