SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2018
7 A
Siuslaw News
Community Voices
N ATURAL
PERSPECTIVE
—
ur new year is in full
swing and February is
upon us, the month
where we see the first glimmers
that winter is fading away. This
month also brings Valentine’s
season and the usual thoughts of
romance. However, it is not just
the time for budding human
relationships. Oregon’s rough-
skinned newts, sometimes
referred to as “waterdogs,” are
beginning their move to breed-
ing ponds where they will locate
a partner and prepare to produce
the next generation of offspring.
O
B Y E MILY J. U HRIG , P H D
Special to the Siuslaw News
Newt love is in the air
The bumpy, dark brown skin
on their backs gives the newts
their ‘rough-skinned’ moniker,
but it’s their yellow-orange bel-
lies that make them particularly
recognizable. The vibrantly col-
ored underbellies signal that
they carry a potent neurotoxin
and essentially warns predators,
“I’m poisonous, don’t eat me.”
The poison, known as
tetrodotoxin, is more toxic than
cyanide, making it such an
effective defense mechanism
that humans and most potential
predators would become sick or
M ILITARY H ERITAGE C HRONICLES —
B Y C AL A PPLEBEE
Special to the Siuslaw News
I
t’s been 10 years since I last
wrote about the Cold War. In
doing research recently for
our upcoming class on that topic
as a part of our six-part LCC
series, I was reminded of two
things:
First, it is such a broad topic
and covers so much fabric of our
society, it is certainly impossible
to do the topic justice in a short
F
article or even a two-hour class.
Secondly, with recent events
concerning North Korea and
Russia over the past couple
years, it is also certainly no
longer “cold.”
Of course, our Cold War battle
goes back decades to the end of
World War II (WWII), when rela-
tions with communist Soviet
Union continued to decline in the
post-war years, followed then
shortly with the Korean War just
a few years later, and the far-
reaching control of the Kim fam-
ily in North Korea, also dating
back to WWII.
While those relations with the
Soviet Union began to improve,
at least for a period, with their
dismantling in 1991, that has
never evolved with North Korea.
Following the fall of the
Berlin Wall, relations with the re-
formed Russia seemed to be
improving. However, with
Vladimir Putin rising through the
communist party ranks and com-
ing to power, that progress
became jeopardized. Just as his
predecessors installed commu-
nist-leaning governments in
Eastern Europe in post-war
years, he too has extended his
tentacles of power with incur-
sions into Ukraine, annexation of
Crimea and intervention in Syria.
Some members of the interna-
tional community view the
annexation of Crimea as a move
towards re-creation of the Soviet
Union.
While Putin continues to deny
Russian interference into our
2016 elections, U.S. intelligence
officials say otherwise. In fact,
he accuses then-Secretary of
State Hilary Clinton of interfer-
ing in Russian internal affairs.
After Putin congratulated Trump
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under logs or amid leaf litter.
Around February, as the newts
rouse themselves from hiberna-
tion, it’s common to see them
trekking overland to their breed-
ing ponds. Upon arrival, males
and females pair up for mating.
Newt couples can often be
seen floating in shallow water as
the male grasps the female’s
back with all four legs in a
courtship posture called
‘amplexus’ that can last for
hours or days. Despite their inti-
mate contact, this is not the
actual act of mating. Instead,
once the pair eventually sepa-
rates, the male deposits a packet
of sperm on an underwater sur-
face. The female then sits on the
packet to bring the sperm into
her reproductive tract where it
can fertilize her eggs, which she
will lay in a mass on submerged
roots or branches. A few weeks
later, tiny newt tadpoles will
hatch.
So, if you’re out enjoying a
hike with your Valentine, keep
an eye out for newts on their
own quest for love.
Cold War revisited
33 rd Annual
FLORENCE
even die from attempting to eat
a newt. Garter snakes are
notable exceptions and some
Oregon populations have
evolved resistance to the poison,
allowing them to safely partake
in a meal of newt.
Like frogs, newts are amphib-
ians and require a moist habitat,
although they can spend a sig-
nificant amount of time away
from standing water. Damp
Oregon forests are excellent
homes for adult newts through-
out the late fall and early winter,
which they spend hibernating
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on his presidential victory, a
Gallup poll reported 22 percent
of Americans had a favorable
view of Putin.
Although North Korea’s com-
munist leanings pre-date WWII,
the Kim family dynasty came
into power shortly thereafter with
North Korea’s liberation in 1945
by the Soviet Red Army. Up until
1994, Kim Il-sung, grandfather
of today’s dictator, wielded
power, followed by Kim Jong-Il.
But as North Korea witnessed the
Soviet Union’s demise in 1991,
they actually replaced commu-
nism with a Juche philosophy,
creating a socialist state with a
military emphasis.
Current family dynasty dicta-
tor (say that fast three times) Kim
Jong Un has certainly capitalized
on that emphasis since coming to
power in 2011. Despite repeated
UN sanctions and US pleas to
China to bring pressure on North
Korea to de-accelerate its nuclear
program, Kim continues to rattle
his nuclear saber and flaunt his
growing nuclear capabilities.
There have been a variety of
incidents over the decades, some
more recent than others, that
have caused concern, starting
way back in 1948 with the
Russian blockade of Berlin. Then
over the next few decades we
saw the botched Bay of Pigs in
1961, the Cuban Missile Crisis in
1962 and the USS Pueblo attack
and capture by North Korea in
1968. More recently, we’ve seen
the missile tests by North Korea
and repeated air space violations
to American military aircraft by
Russian aircraft. Russia has
switched over the years from
enemy to ally back to enemy, and
it seems as if the Korean War
never really did end
So, that Cold War than began
over 70 years ago, has heated
back up to the extent that
Americans once again face a pos-
sible nuclear attack. The Oregon
Coast Military Museum’s Feb.
21 class will take a closer look at
this dilemma and its heritage,
including a 1957 video of how
one Oregon community prepared
for the Red Threat back then.
Think about joining us - might
make a great training film. And I
promise, no “duck and cover”
exercises — I couldn’t handle it
either!
You can learn more about mil-
itary heritage by visiting our
website: www.oregoncoastmili-
tarymuseum.com or visit the
museum, open Thursday through
Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and
located at 2145 Kingwood St. in
Florence.