Horned Toads

Subject: Horned Toads Tue 17 Jul 2007, 8:43 am

I guess this is the right place to put this since it's a MYSTERY. Where did the horned toads go ? Has anybody seen one lately ? We used to hear that fire ants killed them off. Did anybody ever hear about the horned toad that lived in a brick for like 20 years ? Poor little guy What a Face

Trailblazer Joined : 29 May 2007 Posts : 88

The issue of fire ants killing out horned toads (lizards, actually, of course) is apparently not simple. And may not be correct, or at least not directly. There are any number of articles on the disappearance of the critters, but as far as I know, not a consensus as to why they are getting scarce.

Since one of their primary prey items is the big red harvester ants, if those disappear or get scarce, so do critters taht need them for dinner. And ants other than fire ants do indeed seem to be getting scarcer. Just why - well, fire ants eat or drive some out. Insecticides do for others, both in lawns and agricultural areas. Etc.. And organophosphate insecticides kill things besides insects (after all - they are just nerve agents, like Sarin, Tabun and such) - including ground-dwelling lizards.

The horned toad who "liven in a brick" you reference is probably the famous "Old Rip", who supposedly spent decades in a courthouse cornerstone, only to be found alive when it was opened as part of a courthouse replacement or remodeling (I seem to recall it was the Parker Co courthouse in Weatherford).

Trailblazer Joined : 29 May 2007 Posts : 88

You're right MC - memory failed me.

Subject: Re: Horned Toads Sun 22 Jul 2007, 1:12 pm

31 years !!! Any chance this could have been a hoax ? Poor little guy. I think these are creatures just about everybody misses. Thanks for the info.
Mari

Joined : 09 Mar 2008 Posts : 5 Localisation : TEXAS

..You're correct Clyde, its the same story ( Old Rip) I"ve heard as well. Sometime in the late 1890s I believe and then opened up in the late 1920s AND HE WAS STILL ALIVE!
How was it possible? Sure beats me!