It’s official. Humboldt is salamander country. We did not see this coming.

Congratulations to the slimy Pacific Giant Salamander — as well as its many Facebook fans — for claiming the title “Best Humboldt Native Animal.” Condolences to Bigfoot on his disqualification (try being more real next time).

PREVIOUSLY: All Past Humboldt Approved Winners

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Original Post: For this week’s Humboldt Approved, your Lost Coast Outpost was going to put all of our native fauna in a giant cardboard box and see which one came out victorious. What better way to determine Humboldt’s best animal? We could’ve made a killing selling tickets. And the YouTube hits … hoo boy. 

Sadly, in the end laws and morality dictated that we run this dumb ol’ popularity poll the old fashioned way. So tell us in the comment section below, Humboldt: What is our “best” local animal? You decide what makes the best the best. Are you drawn to beasts that are fuzzy and cute? Maybe it matters to you how environmentally or economically essential a creature is? Perhaps you’re hungry? You decide!

This is a one winner week. Here is your regular reminder on how to have your Humboldt Approved vote count:

To vote, look through the comments of this Humboldt Approved poll. If someone has already nominated the answer you would give for this week’s category, click the upvote arrow. If you don’t see your desired Humboldt Approved answer nominate it in a comment for others to upvote. (Please be careful to not duplicate answers; redundant answers will be deleted and potential associated upvotes will be lost.) Feel free to make your case by replying to/cheering on the answer you love most, but again the number by the arrows on the initial nomination is what counts.

You can vote for as many nominees as you deem worthy but, of course, the more you do that the more watered down your initial vote becomes. That’s math.

We reserve the right to delete superfluous/lame comments that make the voting/comment section hard to sift through. Please try not to get offended when your comment battle reply is deleted. We’re trying to do something here.

While many weeks we look for two winners — one winner from the metropolises of Eureka and Arcata, and one from Humboldt’s smaller communities — due to the nature of this category, this time we’re gonna limit it to one. Voting closes next Friday at noon and soon after a winner will be declared.

Now, make an animal happy.

Note: Unfortunately, the wild Lost Coast duckbilled stallion is disqualified on account of it being not real. Sorry.