How does a newt cross the road? The teams trying to end a nightly carnage

Brigades of volunteers are coming to the rescue of thousands of Pacific newts that perish each year as they migrate to their breeding grounds

On particularly warm and damp winter nights, as thousands of Pacific newts venture out onto the verdant Petaluma hills north of San Francisco - so does the Chileno Valley Newt Brigade.

As the sunlight fades, volunteers spread out over a mile-long stretch of a rural road. Wearing reflective vests, much like school crossing guards, these brigadiers are here to help the newts make a perilous journey from a lake on one side of the road to the hills on the other. Working in pairs, they scan the road with flashlights, gently picking up each wriggly newt they find and moving them to safety.