Was doing a little planting/plowing for a neighbor, about a mile away from the photo at the top of this thread. It was on an 80 acre field, with native grass pasture on all four sides.

It is also a field that lay fallow for nearly three years due to illness/death of the operator. And the original operator plowed it with an old one-way disk and a 1950s Case tractor. Basically the way it had been plowed since the 1920s or earlier.

Point is, I spotted 5 different 'horny toads' running around the field. Probably were a lot more I failed to see. The guy (girl?) in the two photos below, I did not see from the tractor. It was only when I got off to check the drill that he moved and I saw him. Picked him up to move him out of my path, and took a couple of photos.

Again, sorry, it is only a cellphone pic.


Texas horned lizard by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr


Texas horned lizard by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr


In other critter news, there was a rattlesnake coiled up inside of my front tire the morning after parking overnight in this guys pasture. I didn't see it until I had already climbed up on the tractor and was getting back off. My foot would have been about 2 feet from him as I got on. Luckily, he was only a youngster about 2 feet long. Did not rattle. He disappeared when I went for a camera. The only thing worse than seeing a rattlesnake is knowing he's around and not seeing him.

Also, there is a little scrubby hackberry tree just outside a corner of this field, maybe 14 feet high. Saw a hawk hanging around it, then saw her attack a little bird that tried to land in the tree. Keep in mind that there can't be more than 3 trees in a 1/2 mile radius of this one. So when I plowed next to it, I climbed up on the outside of the tractor and looked. Sure enough, big nest in the top of the tree.

I have NEVER seen hawks nest in our area, or anywhere for that matter. I've been trying to figure out if I could set up a game cam or web cam without disturbing her/breaking laws. Sorry I don't know the type of hawk. Just big, mostly gray, a little white above the tail. This is him/her sitting on a fence post about 30 yards from the tree.


hawk on post by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

Here's a lousy cell phone pic of the nest.


hawk nest by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

Grey hawk with white above the tail sounds like a Northern Harrier.

Saw a horned lizard at Guadalupe Mountains on Monday. Usually see one every trip out there.

Bigger than a harrier, just a flash of white, not the band that I see on a harrier.

Mississippi kite?

We had all kinds of them growing up in Castro County during the 90's. Seemed like they started to disappear over the past 10-12 yrs

Used to find them every year in Forsan, TX when i went to visit famiy there as a kid (late 80'2 early 90's). The last one I saw was in Albany, TX about 5 years ago. Probably my favorite critter.

I grew up with them in South Texas. Missed seeing those and showing them to my kids.

We have kites, definitely not m. kite.

Perhaps a dark phase of a Swainson's Hawk?

They may be around now but back in the late 60's, I used to fill a five gallon bucket 1/2 full several times each sommer and take them to my grandpa, he let them loose in the garden.

We used to catch them all the time on the playground in elementary school in Clovis. We would take the yella bellies and chase the girls telling them they were going to spit blood on them.

I saw one in West Fort Worth about three years ago. It was a pretty big one in my mothers driveway. She is a TCU grad and thought it was much cooler than it actually was. But that was the only one I have ever seen.

There's been some minor, interesting research on horned lizards at TCU, and at the Ft Worth Zoo.

Bonfire, note I said changes in agricultural practices, not a single particular factor. The shift to landscape level monocultures (pasture and croplands), is certainly considered to be a contributing factor. Like quail, there is no single simple answer.

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We had all kinds of them growing up in Castro County during the 90's. Seemed like they started to disappear over the past 10-12 yrs

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Are you from Dimmitt?

Now there's an exciting town. Actually visited there for a wedding back in February. My tech in grad school was from there. I got to learn all about the dairy and feedlot operations.

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Like quail, there is no single simple answer.

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I don't know what this "quail" that you speak of is, but I would compare the mysterious decline of the Texas horned lizard to the "Northern bobwhite."
On a serious note, I really love these unique overlooked species. Sounds like a lot of fun getting into solving the management issues and potentially having a positive impact on the populations in those old home ranges.

There was a bobwhite calling in downtown Albany, GA along the Flint River a couple of days ago. Blew my mind. Apparently all is not lost for the Southern Bobwhite.

I used to catch them in Somerville at my grandma's place in the early 70s. Then they just seemed to disappear.

For anyone that might be interested.

http://www.hornedlizards.org/hornedlizards/hornedlizards_frame.html

One of my co-workers is a big time horned lizard fan, so for the first 4 years of my career, I spent a lot of time sitting in HL related meetings.

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Are you from Dimmitt?

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Definetely not from Dimmitt. Just 12mi east of there. Nazareth

OK, serious question... we have great habitat for horny toads... Kleingrass pastures chock full of red ants on the Guadalupe river. Do they do any reintroduction or sell / give out breeding pairs? I'm positive they would make it here just as well as anywhere else.

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We had all kinds of them growing up in Castro County during the 90's. Seemed like they started to disappear over the past 10-12 yrs

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The photos I posted were taken in the last year, about 30 miles NNE of Nazareth, in SW Randall county.

They (TPWD/TCU/FW Zoo) are doing some work right now trying to figure out a reintroduction protocol. They are pretty poor colonizers, so things have to line up just right.

Basically, they take confiscated or turned in horned lizards, figure out what type they are and quarantine them for X amount of time. Then onsite soft release is established. Etc.

One thing that has come to light is they don't just eat any harvester ants. They have actually found at least one population, up in Oklahoma, that doesn't eat any harvester ants. You can have all the harvester ants in the world, if you don't have the right kind, you don't have horned lizards.

To directly answer your question, no. But within the next few years, maybe.

We found one yesterday in Webb County. Looked great.

My AP Biology teacher was a herpetologist at the Ft. Worth Zoo, and he was able to get us into the lab at TCU for a presentation on the horny toads and a little time on the lab equipment. Was pretty neat stuff.

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One thing to keep in mind, the horned lizard population decline largely occurred BEFORE RIFA got here. Think more along the lines of changes in agricultural practices (ie improved/clean/monoculture pastures, certain pesticides).

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I remember my Dad, in the 60's & 70's kept his Big Red Ant Bait (that's what he called Harvester Ants) and his Cut Ant Poison Gas behind his pickup seat. Any time he spotted a nest he would immediately kill it. It was hard to find a live ant nest on his section+ of land.

Now I own some of his original farm/ranch and I am seeing the Harvester Ants slowly, very slowly come back. I have not seen a Horny Toad since the 70's but I fully expect them to come back some day when the supply of Harvester Ants gets up to the level they need.

Also, I remember visiting cousins in Priddy, Texas and that place was crawling with hornytoads.

What are the similar looking ones with long tails called? I see a lot of those in the hill country.

Here's one with the long tail that looks like a horny toad I saw earlier today. Couldn't get a closer pick, he ran off.

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Luckily, he was only a youngster about 2 feet long. Did not rattle.

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Dang hogs are making those rattle snakes stay quiet.

The similar looking lizards are spiny lizards (Genus Sceloporus), most likely Texas spiny, Sceloporus olivaceus, in the hill country. There are several species from that genus though out the state. Prairie liazrds, Sceloporus undulates (or whatever they have divided that species up into) is also common in most of the state. They are smaller then the Texas Spiny and less spiny...

[This message has been edited by taylorag06 (edited 6/2/2012 2:19p).]

[This message has been edited by taylorag06 (edited 6/2/2012 2:19p).]

Put it in a box and leave it in the monaghans mailbox.

Keep in mind that Horny Toads are a very protected species in Texas. As I understand it, it is illegal to keep them and take them home.

One problem is that it is reportedly very hard to keep them alive in captivity, difficult even for very knowledgeable etymologists.

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etymologists

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Anyone else feel their leg being pulled?

I was trying to figure out the connection.