For all fans of this little guy here is a look at a Nevada one
HORNY TOAD
Really neat Gritts, they used to be very common but are very scarce in Texas now. It is believed that with the demise of their favorite food ( harvester ants ) which have been decimated due to pesticides and urban sprawl, they have basically disappeared.
I LOVED those as a child but never see them any more. It's good to know that some are still around.
NEVADA? Grits- you in Vegas or Sparks/Reno? prolly Vegas- watch out for all that glitter!
neat
We had one earlier this summer eating veggie scraps on the compost pile. Startled me when I went out to bury more scraps. First one I ever remember seeing.
I have some long tailed lizards that resembled horny toads but their tails are 4 or 5 inches long, and not quite as spiky. Started with one 1-eyed lizard the year I moved in, added a compost pile and bushes and trees and rocky stuff for cover and they have a field day, I must have half a dozen that I know of now. But no horned toads. The lizards work the tree tops too. I climbed a hackberry to trim and saw a lizard 20 ft up in the next tree over.
Nice picture! As Josephine said we have destroyed their favorite food ( harvester ants ) so we don't see very many in Texas anymore. Very sad because I loved to watch them as a kid.
We have plenty of harvester ants on our property. We leave them alone because they help keep fire ants away and they don't do any harm except for a bald spot where their holes are. We don't have cats and have lots of mesquite trees and rocks bordering the gardens (places to hide.) How do you attract horned lizard back to an area?
Actually, any kind of lizard or toad is welcome here but they have become so rare in this area for some reason (maybe the drought has something to do with it as well as all the farming.)
This message was edited Oct 26, 2013 10:45 PM
Lizards, toads, spiders, etc. All have to eat, and farmers use chemicals to kill insects and bugs that effect their crop. No food= no wildlife. All you have left is usually the rats that get in the barns etc. and hungry hawks keep that population down I would think.
If I have a good crop of baby lizards next year maybe I could catch one or 2, trouble is I can't tell a male from a female, and without both, you still don't have a viable start, even with both they would be inbred. i have no idea where their nest was, but my cherry tomatoes had the cutest baby lizard, not gecko, not salamander, not chameleon, scooting back and forth between the tomatoes and the oregano patch.
my area was part of a big farm until the 1950's, but it was more of a cattle ranch so not many chemicals
Yep, the chemicals and plowing probably killed them here when this was farm land. But we are correcting that with only organic pest control (mostly the squish method) (but we don't squish the spiders since they are allies) and providing lots of places to forage and hide. My daughter bikes along the river and sees lots of skinks there but they are too fast to catch, and like you say Gypsi, there's no way of knowing their gender once they're caught. Still, if we could nab a few, it would be worth bringing them back here to give them a start. We have plenty of pesky bugs/insects to feast upon in the gardens. Have had quite a few crickets and grasshoppers this year even with the drought.
I keep the hawks scared away with a firecracker or two when we see them hunting around here. They might decide to have chicken for lunch.
to catch lizards, I think a little woodpile in an old wooden crate on its side would probably work. They seem to love my woodpile. I no more than get it set up, elevated on racks and blocks, than it is populated with lizards. Have to be careful when fetching firewood.
He is a beauty! Or she maybe. I thought I read that fire ants had caused their numbers to decrease.
Umhm, fire ants are a pain for so many of the natives that we like. But I've heard the harvester ants are territorial and will help keep them (fire ants) out of an area to some degree. And since the horny toad lizards like to eat harvester ants, it's another reason to leave them alone (but have to keep convincing DH of that since he doesn't like the grassless area they make).
Then it's time to see about setting up a wood pile in the back of a flower bed or two...
I haven't seen a harvest ant in DFW since about 1985
Here is a great article on the Harvester Ants and the association with Horned Toads from TAM. https://insects.tamu.edu/extension/publications/epubs/e-402.cfm
That article says that fire ants may eat harvester ant queens so they are saying the opposite of what I was told. More reason to protect and give them room (the H. ants) I guess.
Want to trade a bucket of harvester ants for a couple of lizards? : )
I couldn't keep the ants alive, but if I catch the lizards how far from Fort Worth is Iowa Park?
Interesting article, Sheila. Thanks. I remember horny toads being very common here in Euless when I was a kid. I was always catching them and lugging them around in shoe boxes. It seems there was always a harvester ant bed at the end of the driveway, too. Funny, but I never associated the two. The last time I was at my dad's ranch in Jack County, there was a large harvester ant bed in the front yard. I'll have to keep a look out there for horny toads. I sure miss them.
We have LOTS of anoles and Texas spiny lizards around our house here. Rick and I love to watch them in the gardens. We've actually seen the spiny lizards laying eggs. They dig a burrow, back in and lay their eggs. They use the same spot in the garden every year, so I'm careful about digging there. Wildlife is so fascinating!
I binged Texas Spiny Lizard and found my local species, or at least one of them. I do not know where they are laying their eggs, but I have so much "garden" space they seem to be doing pretty well at it!
Iowa Park is about two and half hours from Ft. Worth, Gypsi. I wouldn't mind making the drive down that way. Is the spring time when you see the most lizards?
Actually it is now that I see the most lizards but I don't know how to catch them. They are very very fast
I attended our Prairie Heritage Festival in Rosenberg yesterday and the Texas Horned Lizard Society had a great booth there. Here is a link to their site:
http://www.hornedlizards.org/hornedlizards/hornedlizards_frame.html
The picture was taken in the foothills very near the Black Rock desert,and there were many of them ..My grandson was obsessed with catching but was not quick (4yrs.)later he became quite adept at it to the utter dismay of his mother ..His Father and his Aunt our children were also good at catching as my DW put several of them thru the wringer on the old Maytag at which point she forbade the bringing home of ant reptiles
That is a very cute story Gritts, I am with your wife on putting reptiles in your pocket.
Aw what a cutie! Is it true they squirt blood out of their eyes at your eyes? I guess I could google but I'm too lazy right now lol!! We have the spiny lizard here too and I love them! They are super camoflauged on the oaks and I only know they're there when I get too close and I hear them scurry further up! We also have spotted whiptail lizards and skinks with blue tails! I love lizards, can you tell?? Lol