Want to help protect these docile little creatures?
Texas Horned Lizard Watch: Horned Lizard Facts
When I was in high school, I was goofing off in speech class when the teacher, in an attempt to embarrass me, put me in front of the class and told me to give a speech on the sex life of the horny toad. It just so happened that I had a horned toad as a pet, and had read all about them. I gave an impromptu lecture on the little creatures and astonished the teacher.
Years ago my dad told the fellows on the railroad in Oregon about these like fellows. They didn’t believe him. Next trip to Columbus, NM we caught some and tried to take them back to Oregon. They died before we got home.
They seem to be disappearing like the lightning bug.
When I was a boy both species were everywhere in Texas, but you can go a whole summer now and not see one.
I played them all the time as a kid...
An uncle showed us that they would even puff on cigarettes when one was inserted in their mouth. Of course this was in the 1960’s when smoking was cool.
Ha! Love these little guys. I always had “Horny Toads” as a little kid in West Texas. Haven’t seen a single one in San Antonio in all these years. One of my boyfriends gave me a bronze one (paperweight) from James Avery in the 80s. I still have it. It lives in my kitchen window, “sunning” itself.
Thanks for the link! They are a Texas treasure.
How good do they taste, stir-fried?
The decline of the big red ants has almost wiped them out.
If any show back up on the property here, they will be treated like royalty.
/johnny
Michelle Olizard!
Maybe instead of a Gadsten Flag we need one with with the horned lizard with the caption: Dare you to screw with us....
When I was a kid, I lived with my grandmother near Wylie, Texas. I’d catch horny toads and put them in my pillow case so I could play with them after my nap. They were always gone when I woke up. I am a horny toad fan and it’s sad to think of their numbers depleting.
We live in central AZ. Our min-pin had a stand-off with a horny toad. I videoed the encounter until the dog got too crazy. The horny toad was relocated to a safer corner of the yard. A couple of months later, there were a bunch of baby horny toads running around the yard.
We also have video of a couple of horny toads having sex, but I don’t want to embarrass anybody by posting it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlJjBn11o-g
Haven’t thought about Molly Ivins in while. Thanks for the refresher.
How they quantify "disturbing" a small reptile, is anyone's guess.
Go check out the story of Ole Rip, the horned toad that lived 30 years in the cornerstone of the courthouse in Eastland, TX. During a remodel, they moved the cornerstone and there was Ole’ Rip. Mighty hungry. Truth!
I can remember horned toads being seen and sometimes caught when I was little, in the 50’s, in NW Florida. My boys caught them in the 70’s, in Pensacola, so I guess they must have been prolific little creatures.