The cool, perpetually moist Olympic rainforest is ideal amphibian habitat, home to species including the Pacific giant salamander, one of North America's largest terrestrial salamanders and capable of a barking call, and the highly toxic rough-skinned newt. These animals depend on the forest's year-round dampness and clean, cold streams, making them sensitive indicators of the ecosystem's health.
In a forest this wet, the real locals are the amphibians, and they're everywhere underfoot if you know to look. The Pacific giant salamander can grow as long as your hand and is one of the few salamanders that can actually bark. The rough-skinned newt walks the trails in plain sight, orange-bellied and unbothered, because its skin carries a toxin strong enough that almost nothing dares eat it. These are creatures that need it cool and damp year-round, and that's exactly what this rainforest gives them. Watch the wet ground.
Photo: Greg Schechter · CC BY 2.0
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