We have had a harvester ant nest near our house for about 20 years. I have noticed other nests across the countryside slowly re-appearing. The farmers & ranchers no longer carry a can of ant bait and kill em all like my dad and his generation did. Maybe that poison is even outlawed, ...don't know.

Will the Horned Toad ever come back? We had a few here 40 years ago, but nothing like I have seen in north Texas. Are there any studies on this?

I see them pretty often at my house and around the county (Val Verde)

Myrex was one of the first readily available insecticides to be used against imported fire ants, with aerial applications common in the `70's.
County agents passed the stuff out like Halloween candy
But it wiped out the native ant species at a faster rate....and we know the fire ants survived...and the horned toads disappeared.

It would be interesting to have an official count of the number of times something like this backfired.

The pesticide, the imported species, etc., that failed to do it's intended job, and/or killed off native species to boot.

Sad.

I've seen a few this spring and summer on our place in NW Gillespie County.

I haven't seen one in 30 years. Used to play with them all the time as a kid.

We've had numerous harvester ant colonies (in the same exact spots as well) on our place in Cooke County for as long as I remember, and I'm about to be 36. Fire ants as well. But I've never seen a horny toad. My mom remembers have them there as a kid though.

Still got horny toads up here. Seen 3 or 4 this summer in Ochiltree county

THL picture thread

Yeah, it's my own thread, but....

We have several horny toads on our place in Jim Wells county. They are easy to find on our ranch because they stick to same areas all the time.

Have seen a few over the past 6-7 years at a deer lease in Archer County, between Archer City and Holliday. Lots of harvester ants there, fire ants not so much.

Never saw any growing up in Allen from the late 70's on.

[This message has been edited by AggieRob93 (edited 7/11/2013 5:21p).]

One thing to keep in mind, they are a specialist reptile. As such, once they are gone, they are really poor colonizers. Just because you have harvesters, doesn't mean you will get back horned lizards any time soon. There is some research on reintroduction techniques between TCU, the FW Zoo, and TPWD. Also keep in mind, there are several varieties/species of harvester ants, some of which the horned lizards flat out don't like, and they will live side by side. Also, and I say this not particularly joking, buying those horned lizard license plates would actually help. There isn't a whole lot of funding for nongame species. Picture about 95% of terrestrial species are covered by about 3% of the Wildlife Division budget. Then guess where the current biggest headaches are.

I see them often in Throckmorton county.

There is some decent info through the Horned Lizard Conservation Society.

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

I attend a couple horned lizard conservation meetings a year through one source or another. Interesting critters.

One thing to keep in mind, fire ants don't help, but like quail, their population was already in decline long before RIFA got here.

I believe the state has a very poor record of using the license plate money for its intended purpose. I hope they are doing better now.

No, the agency has a very good record, the legislature had a habit of not releasing the funds. They passed a bill this session that funds from voluntary sources, like the license plates, can not be held for the purpose of balancing the budget.

Yes, it was a contentious issue, but it is hopefully straightened out now.

I'm sure plenty can be found in the DFW area......


Clever, I know.

[This message has been edited by Beau DaReaux (edited 7/12/2013 11:56a).]

quote:

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They are preyed upon by hawks, roadrunners, snakes, lizards, coyotes, ground squirrels, mice, cats and dogs.

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This will explain why I may never see a Texas Horned Lizard at our house. We currently have three dogs. Our four cats are the laziest cats I have ever seen. I never see them kill anything.

There are a couple known pockets around the DFW area.