Congrats, Vlad! You should have brought a net... 

Yeah, a net is a must when hunting for newts, or amphibs for that matter. I`ll sure take one next weekend for P. syriacus.
But even if i had one , it still wouldn`t have made a difference. That manhole was VERY deep. There was a big distance between me and the water surface, and also, the water was a few meters deep. Some crazy irrigation/ flood control contraption like i`ve never seen.

I usually macgyver a harnest, take the snakehook in my teeth and explore this kind of artificial herp traps but this time was not the case. Way too dangerous.

Well, he who looks then drives away, lives to herp another day. :)

Cheers!

PS: Here are a couple of shots taken by my friend:

Congratulations! 

Congratulations Vlad! Hopefully these animals manage to escape from these waterfilled wells.
I'm hoping to find Spadefoot toads as well this year, it's been a while since I've seen the species, it's very rare here in Holland.