Wildlife Science, Research and Diversity Program 3000 IH-35 South, Austin, Texas 78704

w w w. t p w d . s t a t e . t x . u s / t r a c k e r

Last year we kicked off a new partnershipprogram with Texas Master Naturalist(TMN) Chapters. This new program isdesigned to enable TMN Chapters andother regional coordinators to promoteTexas Mussel Watch (TMW) and TexasAmphibian Watch (TAW) and spread theword through training volunteer monitorswithin their communities.

Let’s give a great big round of applause forour new Texas Nature Tracker partners!

We would like to offer our gratitude toPenny Miller and members of the RollingPlains Chapter (see article on page 4) forbeing our first TMN Chapter TexasAmphibian and Mussel Watch partner.They trained to be part of our monitoringteam in April 2004. The Capital AreaChapter soon followed and became part ofour monitoring team in June 2004. TheGulf Coast Chapter participated in thetrain the trainer workshop in September2004 and became a Texas AmphibianWatch partner.

Our 2005 Partners are:Rio Grande Valley Master Naturalist

Chapter – Brownsville – March 2005Big Country Master Naturalist Chapter –

Abilene – April 2005North Texas Master Naturalist Chapter –

Dallas – May 2005Mineola Nature Preserve – Mineola –

June 2005

Last year was a good year for frogs andfor frog-watching, as Texas AmphibianWatch saw big leaps in participation anddata collection in 2004. In 2004:

■ Data were submitted by 28 volun-teers, bringing the total number ofparticipants to 46.

■ Data were submitted from 33 coun-ties, raising the total counties partici-pating from 56 to 69.

■ Data were submitted from 52 sites,raising the total number of sites from52 to 86.

■ Data were collected on 14 roadside

transects, raising the total number oftransects sampled to 16.

■ Data were submitted on 35 frogspecies and 11 salamander species.Texas Amphibian Watch has now col-lected data on 38 of the 42 frogspecies in the state.

The most commonly reported amphib-ian species in the state over the last sixyears have been:

■ Cricket frog (Acris crepitans) – 42 counties (>87 locations)

Catchin� U�!

Takes off By Lee Ann Linam, TNT Project Biologist

Marsha Reimer, TNT Coordinator

2 0 0 5

with

continued on page 2continued on page 2

Texas AmphibianWatch

The Texas Nature Tracker22 The Texas Nature Tracker

■ Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) – 38 counties (>69 locations)■ Green Treefrog (Hyla cinerea) – 37 counties (>65 locations)■ Southern Leopard Frog (Rana sphenocephala) – 34 counties (>68 locations)■ Gulf Coast Toad (Bufo nebulifer) – 31 counties (>66 locations)

A big step forward in our monitoring efforts began last year when some Texas MasterNaturalist chapters stepped forward to become partners with us in Texas AmphibianWatch. As partners, these chapters receive a more intensive Amphibian Watch work-shop, along with a set of monitoring equipment. In return, the partners agree to adopta site for long-term monitoring and to conduct at least two mini-workshops or outingsthroughout the year. In 2004 the Rolling Plains, Capital Area and Gulf Coast TMNChapters were trained as partners, while partner workshops have been conducted forthe Lower Rio Grande Valley, Big Country and North Texas Chapters in 2005. TheMineola Nature Preserve is also pursuing a partnership agreement with TexasAmphibian Watch. I believe that we owe much of our success in generating data in2004 to these partners — thanks for your help!

Finally, special individual recognition this year goes to Carol Miserlian, Dan Saenz andApril Proudfit. Carol and Dan have now provided data to Texas Amphibian Watch forfive years. Dan’s data, collected nightly at eight sites in Houston county using auto-mated frog-loggers, has been especially useful to us in providing insights regarding factors that affect calling. Carol’s data are collected at the Houston ISD OutdoorEducation Center using student volunteers. After getting started in December of 2003,in 2004 April collected data from the wetlands near her home on 176 nights! The dedication of these volunteers in East Texas has really paid off, as they have each recorded data on 12 or 13 species. Thanks to all three for their hard work!

Texas Amphibian Watch ... continued from page 1

Catching up ... continued from page 1

Texas Nature Tracker staff conduct initial intensive train the trainer workshops for thechapters/regional coordinators, while the chapters/regional coordinators agree to gatherdata and train volunteers for TMW and TAW utilizing local nature centers and stateparks whenever possible.

Texas Nature Tracker Responsibilities■ Provide intensive training ■ Provide an equipment kit and basic work-

shop materials■ Receive and analyze all data collected■ Serve as a resource for local chapters/coor-

dinatorsPartner Responsibilities■ Host an intensive “Train the Trainer” workshop■ Adopt a site for long-term monitoring■ Host at least two local outing/training sessions per year■ Serve as a local resource for Texas Mussel Watch and Texas Amphibian Watch

If your TMN chapter or nature center is interested in becoming a partner, please con-tact me and we will get things rolling.

We look forward to adding many new partners to this list in the future .

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department receives federal financial assistance from the U.S.

Fish and Wildlife Service. Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Section 504 of

the Rehabilitation Act of 1973,Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990,

the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, and Title IX of the Education Amendments of

1972, the U.S. Department of the Interior and its bureaus prohibit discrimination on

the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability or sex (in educational programs).

If you believe that you have been discriminated against in any Texas Parks and Wildlife

Department program, activity, or facility, or if you desire further

information, please call or write: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,

Office for Diversity and Civil Rights Programs - External Programs,

4040 N. Fairfax Drive,Webb 300,Arlington,VA 22203, (703) 358-1724.

Executive Director

Robert L. Cook

Editor, Texas Nature Tracker

Marsha Reimer

COMMISSIONJoseph B.C. Fitzsimons, Chairman

San AntonioAlvin L. Henry,Vice-Chairman

Houston

J. Robert Brown El PasoT. Dan Friedkin HoustonNed S. Holmes Houston

Peter M. Holt San AntonioPhilip Montgomery Dallas

John D. Parker LufkinDonato D. Ramos Laredo

Lee M. Bass, Chairman-Emeritus Fort Worth

FOR MORE INFORMATIONAll inquiries:Texas Parks and Wildlife Department,

4200 Smith School Rd., Austin,TX 78744,telephone (800) 792-1112 toll free,

or (512) 389-4800 or visit our Web site fordetailed information about TPWD programs:

www.tpwd.state.tx.us

TEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT MISSION STATEMENT

“To manage and conser ve the natural andcultural resources of Texas and to provide

hunting, f ishing and outdoor recreation oppor tunit ies for the use and enjoyment of

present and future generations .”

You may view this publication through the TPWD Website. Please notify us by completing a request form at www.tpwd.state.tx.us/enews/. Once verified, we

will notify you by e-mail when a new version of your selected newsletter is posted at

www.tpwd.state.tx.us/newsletters/. Your name and address will be removed from the printed

version mail distribution list.

©2005 Texas Parks and Wildlife Department PWD BR W7000-360 (8/05)

In accordance with Texas State Depository Law, this publication is available at theTexas State Publications Clearinghouse and/or Texas Depository Libraries.

The Texas Nature Tracker 3

Spadefoot SerenadeBy Jim Dillard, Wildlife Biologist

Some pointers for improving yourmonitoring efforts

New tools and research are helping us toimprove our ability to track changes inamphibian populations in Texas over time.Here are some suggestion for TexasAmphibian Watch volunteers who want to improve the monitoring data that theycollect.

1. Practice call identification – The NorthAmerican Amphibian Monitoring Programnow has a web site where you can practiceidentifying frog calls. The site provides awonderful opportunity for you to hearsome new recordings of groups of speciesin Texas. Simply go to

www.pwrc.usgs.gov/frogquiz/ and select“Public Quiz.”

2. Increase your listening period – Somevery recent research by Ben Pierce at BaylorUniversity has demonstrated that the rec-ommended five minute listening periodmay be less than optimal. His researchshowed that five-minute intervals tended todetect about 75% of the species that wouldcall that evening, while a 15-minute listen-ing period would increase that percentageabout 90%. If you have the chance, then werecommend that you listen for 15 minutesat your site. Please continue to record yourdata in five-minute increments, but simplystay and conduct three five-minute samplesif you are able.

3. Increase the number of visits –Additional recent research has shown thatsites need to be visited from 12 to 24 timesper year in order to detect a high percent-age of the species that are present. Sincespecies in Texas call year-round and sincemany of our species respond strongly torainfall, we now suggest that you plan tovisit your site at least once per month andthat you add additional visits when a sig-nificant rainfall occurs.

Texas Amphibian Watch data are beginningto look like a valuable tool to track amphib-ian trends in the state — incorporation of afew of these suggestions will make yourefforts all the more valuable to us and tothe frogs!

Getting heavy rains during the spring herein Nort-central Texas is a hit or miss propo-sition. We never know which storm will bethe last before the hot dog-days of summerset in and the rains shut off until fall. Whenit does rain, the whole country comes alive.The past few years have been a miss, but thisyear we’ve been blessed with numerousstorms and our fair share of rainfall.

A couple of nights ago, there came a goodgully-washer with high wind, lightening,hail and lots or rain. As the thunderstormssubsided and rumbled off in the distance,the sound of love-sick spadefoot toadsroused from their underground burrows bythe sudden downpour echoed through theneighborhood - yeowww! - yeowww! Theywere on a mission and time was of theessence. Their groaning chorus went onlong into the night and by morning, therewas no sign or sound of them anywhere.

Couch’s spadefoot (Scaphiopus couchii) isone of four species of these anurans in theFamily Pelobatidae found in Texas and themost common one here in the CrossTimbers. They’re found throughout thesouthwestern United States into Mexico andflourish in extremely xeric conditions. It’s

named for DariusNash Couch (1822-1897), an 1846 graduateof West Point whofought in theMexican War andwas a MajorGeneral in theCivil War. He col-lected many naturalhistory specimens whileserving in northern Mexico andwith the United States and MexicanBoundary Survey.

They prefer to live in dry grasslands andmesquite country but they’re also found insuburban and agricultural regions. Theyburrow deep and can go for extended peri-ods of time without food. You can also findthese nocturnal amphibians under old logsor other debris.

Although they resemble true toads, no dis-cernable ears, boss (hump) between theireyes or paratoid glands are apparent. Theireyes are large and prominent with pupilsthat are vertically elliptical rather than hori-zontal. Coloration of their skin may bebright yellowish-green, brownish, buff or

olive-greenwithdarkerblotches,lines orspots.

Althoughtheir skin is

smooth, it iscovered with

tubercles (warts).Markings are more prominent on femaleswhich are larger than males at about threeinches long. The belly is white and withoutmarkings. A black keratinous sickle-shaped“spade” is located on the heel of each hindfoot that is used to help burrow backwardsor vertically through loose or sandy soil.

Their skin secretions, which vaguely smelllike garlic, may cause allergic reactions bysome people. You won’t get warts, but dolike your mother said and always wash youhands after handling hop toads and keepyour fingers out of your eyes.

The low frequency sound and vibration

continued on next page

The Texas Nature Tracker4

Spadefoot … continued

from thunder and rainfall hitting theground stimulate them to emerge fromtheir subterranean burrows to search forshallow pools of water. Breeding may notoccur annually unless these heavy rainfallevents occur during their spring, summeror fall mating season. Males begin callingto attract females and the race is on. Asmany as 1,000 to 3,000 eggs are laid byfemales which are then fertilized by themale and anchor to underwater vegetation.Breeding congregations are not uncom-mon, so there’s a whole-lotta-crook’engoing on when spadefoots do their thing.Eggs hatch in less than one day and meta-morphosis from tadpole to toadlets canoccur in a couple of weeks or less if thewater begins to dry up. In more perma-nent pools, it may take several weeks. Iffood supplies are short, tadpoles may evenbegin to eat each other.

Couch’s spadefoots are real couch pota-toes! They don’t eat often but when theydo, it has to last them a long time. Whenthey emerge to eat, it may be their onlymeal for the entire year. Spadefoots gorgethemselves on beetles, grasshoppers, katy-dids, ants, spiders, termites and otherinsects. Then, they’ll burrow back downinto the soil to wait until it rains again.Young spadefoots must also eat as much aspossible before they too burrow into thesoil before it dries out.

Over the years, I’ve encountered a numberof Couch’s spadefoots while vegetable gar-dening. They sometimes resemble a smallpotato. However, potatoes usually don’t gocroak or wet on you when you pick themup which can be a little disconcerting.Spadefoots don’t seem to appreciate iteither. It doesn’t rain spadefoots; it justbrings them to the surface. Unfortunately,many get run over on our roadways duringrainy weather so dodge them if you can.To me, their rain music is one of thecoolest and most comforting night soundsI know. When it does rain here in theCross Timbers, I’m glad there are still afew wild things around to croak about inthe night. Until next time – I’ll see youdown the road and God Bless America!

Texas Mussel Watch in the Rolling PlainsBy Penny Miller

The Rolling Plains Master Naturalists par-ticipated in the Texas Mussel Watch pro-gram for the first time in 2004. The chapterselected Lake Arrowhead State Park as itsprimary continuous monitoring site andalso picked up records at several local lakes,ponds and rivers. The chapter conducted 10 surveys over the summer in Wichita andClay counties.

Asian clams were prevalent everywhere, aswere mapleleafs. Additionally, participantsfound yellow sandshells, giant floaters, andpink papershells in good numbers as well asfragile papershells, lilliputs, and pitstol-grips. No Zebra mussels!

In addition to conducting surveys, we pro-vided programs to two local groups onmussels, increasing awareness of mussels onour area. The video provided with thechapter kit and the specimens collectedduring the Texas Mussel Watch surveysformed the core of these programs.

The first year was a good experience inlearning the technique for conducting asurvey and recording information. Somelessons learned:

■ Take a buddy. Many of the survey loca-tions are in out-of-the way areas andthere is safety in numbers. Although allof our surveys were conducted walkingalong the edge of the water or wadingankle-deep water, accidents happen. Ourteam’s favorite story of the Lake Buffalo“tar pit” is a humorous anecdote, butcould have had a less than humorousending had a Master Naturalist beenalone.

■ Keep your Texas Mussel Watch stuff inthe car. Having a pair of boots, a bucket,Texas Mussel Watch book and forms inthe trunk can lead to an impromptuWatch survey any time.

■ Always bring your camera, binocularsand field guides. You might be out formussels, but there are a lot of otherinteresting things out there — the onetime our team was out without a cam-

era, we came across some interestingdragonflies. We haven’t seen any similarones since, and our efforts to identifythe species later has been without suc-cess. A picture would have helped.

The Texas Mussel Watch program has beenfun and has helped document a type of ani-mal in an under-studied region of the state.During the winter we have been findingnew sites for survey in 2005. Goals in 2005include:

■ Increase the number of surveys doneand move into adjacent counties, espe-cially Willbarger and Hardeman.

■ Look for the Asian clam in Willbargercounty — there is no record of thespecies in that county, but given thenumbers in neighboring Wichita, itwould be a surprise if it is not there.

■ Begin monitoring the Little WichitaRiver downstream of the reverse osmo-sis plant to see if the plant has an impacton the populations in the river.

■ Attempt to include water quality moni-toring by using invertebrates in futureWatch surveys.

The Texas Mussel Watch program has beenan interesting program for our chapter —one that provides useful information onthese interesting animals and keeps ourmembers active in the chapter.

Southern Mapleleaf

Last year I discussed how it takes a specialperson to be a Texas Mussel Watch (TMW)volunteer. During the 2003-2004 musselmonitoring year, one such special personwas Kathy McCormack. Kathy logged a totalof nine hours searching for mussels in theColorado River drainage basin. AprilProudfit followed closely with a total of sixhours in the San Jacinto drainage basin.Well, it can also take a special group to besuccessful Texas Mussel Watch volunteers.During the 2003-2004 mussel monitoringseason, the Rolling Plains Chapter of theTexas Master Naturalists (see article on pre-vious page) logged a total of 8.25 volunteerhours in the Red and Wichita Riverdrainage basins.

TMW volunteers collected data during the2003-2004 monitoring year from nine Texasdrainage basins in fifteen counties (seeFigure 1.) All TMW volunteers participatedin or were directly associated with someonewho attended at least one TMW workshop,where they received training on identifica-tion and correct methods of handling freshwater mussels.

Volunteers observed 30 live unionid fresh-water mussels, 204 shells and 254 valves(ranging from very-recently dead to subfos-sil). A total of seventeen unionid specieswere found within those nine drainagebasins. When comparing the nine drainage

basins examined, the Brazos River drainagebasin had the greatest number with a totalof nine unionid species.

Four species on the Special Animal List ofthe Texas Biological and Conservation DataSystem (TPWD 2003) were recorded infour counties.

Seven live specimens, a shell and a fewvalves of Texas fawnsfoot (Truncillamacrodon), were recorded during the TexasMaster Naturalist Annual Meeting TexasMussel Watch workshop by participants inWashington County in the Brazos River.

A few shells and one valve of western pim-pleback (Quadrula pustulosa mortoni), wererecorded by TMW volunteer April Proudfitin Montgomery County in the San Jacintodrainage basin.

A long dead Texas fatmucket (Lampsilisbracteata) was recorded by TMW volunteerJason Lott in the Pedernales River.

A live specimen, few shells and several valvesof smooth pimpleback (Quadrula housto-nensis) were recorded by TMW volunteerRonald Rushing and his Science SummerCamp students in the Navasota River.

Asian clams (Corbicula fluminea) wererecorded in twelve out of fifteen counties

(see Figure 1.). Again, the zebra mussel was not observed in Texas by any of ourvolunteers.

The following volunteers took the time thisyear to monitor and report data on musselsin their communities:

■ Robert Doyle and students■ Frances Fehribach■ Laura Gillis■ Dian Hoehne■ David Jayroe■ Jason Lott■ Karen Marks■ Matt Marks■ Kathy McCormack■ Mike McKay and students■ Jim Miller■ Penny Miller■ Julie Perrine■ April Proudfit■ Ronald Rushing and students

We would like to thank this year’s TexasMussel Watch volunteers for taking the timeto monitoring our amazing mussels.

For more information on Texas MusselWatch, please go to our web site at:www.tpwd.state.tx.us/mussels

The Texas Nature Tracker 5

2003-2004 Texas Mussel Watch NotesBy Marsha Reimer, TNT Coordinator

Figure 1.

The Texas Nature Tracker6

Monarch butterflies made news acrossNorth American again. The monarchcolonies were measured and estimated tohave only occupied 2.2 hectares (or 5.4acres) on their overwintering grounds incentral Mexico last winter. This is one of thesmallest amounts of land covered by theclustering monarchs since the annual win-ter censuses were initiated 11 winters ago.However, similarly low numbers of mon-archs survived some of the freezes that hitthe colonies in recent winters. (Formerly,one hectare was estimated to contain 10 million monarchs, but the latest esti-mates have suggested that there may be asmany as 50 million monarchs per hectare!)

The low numbers of monarchs reportedfrom Mexico last winter were predicted byour Texas Monarch Watch volunteers whoreported large numbers of monarchs onlyin a narrow swath running down the cen-ter of the “central flyway,” a 300-mile widepath centered on an imaginary line passingfrom Wichita Falls, on the Red River downto Del Rio on the Rio Grande.

During a good fall migration, such as in2003, monarchs fill out the central flywayfrom the I.H. 35 corridor west to Midland.(My phone nearly rang off the hook fromobservers wanting to report monarchsblanketing much of Dallas/Fort Worth thatfall.) During the ’03-’04 winter, monarchsoccupied an above average area of some11.1 hectares in Mexico before a winter

storm unfortunately killed an estimated70% of them. Unlike after the mid-January2002 storm, the monarchs didn’t recoversignificantly during the 2004 spring, sum-mer and fall.

There’s a lot of speculation as to why theydidn’t recover significantly last summerwith one reason given being that a highpercentage of soybeans grown, where mostof the monarchs spend their summer, arenow genetically engineered to be herbicidetolerant. Thus farmers can spray herbicideson their soybeans and eliminate the weeds(such as milkweed) while not harming theircrop. Over 80% of the soybeans grown in

the U.S. are now of this variety so a signifi-cant portion of the area where milkweedsgrew are now milkweed free.

Fewer milkweeds means fewer placesfor monarch to lay their eggs and this

could have contributed to the preven-tion of the monarch’s recovery, but

note that the increase in percentageof biotech soybeans has been grad-ual since the first biotech cropswere planted in the U.S. in 1996and over this time the monarchpopulation has twice tripled in size

during their summer growth periodso there doesn’t appear to be a clearlynegative impact on the monarchfrom the use of biotech crops.

The summer of 2004 was notablydifferent in one fundamental way: itwas one of the cooler summers in

recent memory. Cold weather extendsthe time it takes caterpillars to mature andthus limits the number of generations pro-duced which in turn severely restricts thetotal population size. This was probablythe main reason that the monarchs didn’trecover significantly last summer. Let’shope they do better this summer!

Monarchs make news … againBy Mike Quinn

TMV Volunteer, Jason Lott, Honoredfor Iraq Service

Jason Lott,an integratedresources programmanager atLyndon B.JohnsonNationalHistoricalPark andCaptain of

the 1086th Transportation Company ofthe Louisiana National Guard, has been awarded the Louisiana Cross of Merit, oneof the highest military honors granted inthe state.

His command of this vital logistical component of Operations Enduring/IraqiFreedom during its deployment and opera-tion was accomplished with no significantinjuries and no loss of equipment.

The 1086th Transportation Company,consisting of 127 persons and numerousvehicles and equipment, was responsible for

movement into theaters of operation andresupplying various military units in Iraq,including the 3rd and 4th InfantryDivisions and the 82nd Airborne Division.

The unit logged over 250,000 miles during itsdeployment. Jason was in command of hisunit from January 2002 through September2004. He now serves on the battalion staff forthe 165th Quartermaster Battalion of theLouisiana National Guard. Jason’s achieve-ments have also earned him the MeritoriousService Medal. Congratulations and heartfeltthanks to Jason and his family for his serviceand sacrifice.

The Texas Nature Tracker 7The Texas Nature Tracker 7

The data is just coming in and analysis isvery early but 17 of the 18 hummingbirdspecies known from the state of Texas wereseen in 2004. Probably the most excitingnews though was our winter hummingbirdcount - many areas saw more winter hum-mingbirds than normal this year and insome areas, like the five county capital area,more species were reported than normalthis winter.

Special events contributed heavily to oursurveys this year. Participants at the DavisMountains Hummingbird Festival reported10 species (a record for that event), whileparticipants at the Rockport FultonHummer-Bird Celebration reported at leastfour species. Allen’s Hummingbird wasreported at both events and the reports ofAllen’s Hummingbird just kept coming

from the coast! Otherunusual specieswere the Green-breasted Mango in the RioGrande Valley and Broad-billed Hummingbirds at FortDavis.

What about our unusual win-ter? Well, the data are stillnew but this winterobservers have reportedRufous Hummingbirds,Allen’s Hummingbirds,Calliope Hummingbirds, Buff-belliedHummingbirds, Broad-tailedHummingbirds, Anna’s Hummingbirds,Green-breasted Mangos, Black-chinnedHummingbirds and Ruby-throatedHummingbirds. These were reported from

Bedford to the Valley and from El Paso toHouston! We did not have any reports thus

far of winter hum-mingbirds in thePanhandle or in the

extreme northeast cor-ner of the state.

Didn’t the white Christmasscare the birds off? Apparently

not. Christmas day e-mail from theHouston area reported hummingbirdsat the feeders. Observers in BrazoriaCounty provided photos of humming-

birds visiting snow covered feeders.

We would like to have you be a partof the 2005 roundup, you candownload the forms for the 2005season from our web site at

www.tpwd.state.tx.us/hummingbirds. Theinformation is providing data that will helpus further understand these remarkablyresilient birds.

During 2004 TPWD asked everyone whenthey last saw horned lizards. Results ofthose interviews, along with the 2004results from Texas Horned Lizard Watchindicate that the species is hanging on inmany parts of the state and even thrivingin others!

Six new counties added data to TexasHorned Lizard Watch in 2004, bringing thetotal number of counties participating to157. In 2004 a total of 21 volunteers sub-mitted data sheets, while an additional 17 informal reports were received. THLWnow has had 171 people formally partici-pate. Congratulationsto Nick Olson for sub-mitting his fifth year ofdata in 2004!

Texas Horned LizardWatch findings in 2004were similar to resultsover the previoussix years;however, somespecial high-lights includedreports of volun-teers sighting breeding,egg-laying, and baby hornedlizards. Volunteers reportedthrills at sighting breeding activity inChildress and McMullan counties inApril; egg-laying in Comal county in April,Tarrant county in May, and Wilson county

in June; and baby horned lizards in Hartleyand Stephens counties in August and inPotter, Lubbock, Bailey and Hartley coun-ties in September.

2004 Texas Horned Lizard Watch sightingswere combined with results from the

2002-2004 HometownHorned Toads essay con-tests, interviews of TPWD biologists, and attendees atthe 2004 Texas Parks &

Wildlife Expo to produce amap depicting dates of recentsightings across the state.Results indicate that, whilehorned lizards may be morerare now than in the past,they still have been seenrecently in many parts ofthe state. That’s good news!See Figure 1 for dates ofsightings in your county.

For more information onTexas Horned Lizard Watch

visit www.tpwd.state.tx.us/hornytoads/

Texas Hummingbird Roundup Reports 17 Species in 2004!By Mark Klym

Broad-tailed Hummingbird

Maybe Not So Bad!By Lee Ann Linam

How Are Horned Lizards Doing?

Source data: 2004 interviews with TPWD biologists, 2004 visitors to Texas Parks & Wildlife Expo, Texas Horned Lizard Watch (1997-2004 data). Hometown Horned Toads essay contest (2003-2004 interviews).

Figure 1. Most recent decade in which hornedlizards were reported sighted.

The Texas Nature Tracker88 The Texas Nature Tracker

If you want to find horned lizards in Texas,go west. If you want to find winning stu-dent researchers and writers, you also needto look west of I.H.-35. West Texas schoolsproduced all the winners in this year’sHometown Horned Toads essay contest.

Leading the pack was Childress HighSchool, where Russell Grave’s AdvancedWildlife Science class won the HighSchool Team division for a secondtime. The Childress High Schoolstudents really captured theessence of the contest —using the recollections oflocal residents and dataabout the local communityand ecology to provide insightabout why Texas hornedlizards have declined intheir hometown.

Russell Graves believesthat participation in the contest alsoallowed his students to gain valuableresearch skills. “I think that the hornedtoad essay contest has allowed my studentsthe chance to take a community approachto solving the mystery behind the TexasHorned Lizard’s disappearance. Throughinterviews with citizens throughout thecommunity, analysis of county highwayand cropland data, and the study of why

the reptile is plentiful on the school’s landgave all of the students a chance to work asa team in order to search for a relevantanswer to this pressing issue.”

The essay contest this year attracted 70 entries, representing the

work of 137 students,307 interviews and data

from 23 counties aroundthe state. The majority of

the winning 2004essays suggested

that the official statereptile began declining in

the 1970s and 1980s, withpopulation growth, red

imported fire ants, decline inharvester ants and pesticide use

suggested as the major causes ofdecline. Childress High School

also used local records tohypothesize that increases in

traffic, increased pesticide application aspart of the boll weevil eradication pro-gram, and loss of open ground in theConservation Reserve Program may havedecreased the prevalence of horned lizardsin Childress County. All of the essays sug-gested that horned lizards do still live intheir communities.

The contest is funded in part through salesof the Texas horned lizard conservationlicense plate. TPWD launched Texas’ firstconservation license plate in 1999 and ithas since become the third best-sellingspecialty plate in the state, more evidenceof the horned lizard’s status as a popularicon of Texas. For details on conservationlicense plates please visit:www.conservation-plate.org

We believe the contest offers students thechance to better understand their owncommunities. Amy Inman, a senior atChildress High School stated, “I reallyenjoyed participating in the Horned ToadEssay contest. The research we collectedwas like a window into Childress twentyto fifty years ago. While reading the com-piled information, I began to realize howmuch our hometown and the surroundingrural area has changed. Horned Toads arenot the only wildlife being affected by ourgrowing economy. I sincerely hope thatthrough contests like this, my generationcan learn from past generations’ mistakes,so in the future we can better preserve our wildlife.”

Data from the first three years of the contest have been analyzed to provide abetter look at patterns in different parts ofthe state. To request a copy of the com-plete 2004 Hometown Horned Toads essaycontest report, contact Lee Ann Linam at(512) 847-9480 or e-mail:lalinam@wimberley-tx.com

West Texas students bring home top prizes in horned lizard essay contestBy: Lee Ann Linam

The Texas Nature Tracker 9

Grades 3-5 — Individual EssayCan You See It Now?

Maybe you can, maybe you can’t. The horned lizard is becom-ing endangered and is going way down in population, so we needto find a way to keep them alive.

There are 14 kinds of horned lizards in North America, fromsouthern Canada to Guatemala. The Texas horned lizard,Phyrnosoma cornutum (Chihuahuan), is a member of the reptilefamily. When the horned lizard is threatened it first hisses andswells up with air. If that doesn’t work, it will flatten its body tomake a shield and tip all of its horns toward the attacker in thehopes of being too difficult to swallow. As a last resort, the hornedlizard’s eyes will swell shut. A hairlike stream of blood comesshooting out from a tiny opening near the eyelids, and with dead-eye accuracy nails its predator. Then its eyelids will go back tonormal. The horned lizard usually lives for eight years and its mainfood source is harvest ants, but it will also eat grasshoppers, beetles,and spiders. Its predators are hawks, roadrunners, snakes, lizards,foxes, coyotes, ground squirrels, mice, cats and dogs. Most hornedlizards live in deserts or semi-arid environments.

The Navajo people respectfully call the horny toad “Che” orgrandfather. In early times the men would carry them to battle asgood luck charms. They also believed “Che” would make extraarrowheads. In some Mountain tribes they used the horned lizardas a hunting guide. The hunters would put the horny toad down,then they would turn their backs, and turn back around, then theywould follow it in whatever direction it went expecting it to leadthem to game. As for the Native Americans, they believed he was ahealer. Zuni Indians thought he was a medicine man. When womenwhere expecting a child they would put them on their bellies for aneasier labor.

San Angelo is located in Tom Green County, between I-20 andI-10, it covers 58.61 sq. miles in West Central Texas between theTexas Hill Country to the southeast and the Rolling Plains to thenorthwest. The estimated population in 2000 was 104,010 with anaverage rainfall of 20.45 inches per year. The average annual tem-perature is 64.9 degrees and there is usually 251 days of sunshine.

I interviewed seven people: Lisa Tindol (my mother); ElmerKelton (a novelist); Ross Dutton (a veterinarian); Hugh Tucker (arancher); Felton Cochran (owner of the Cactus Book Store); RodDearth (Executive Director of the Nature Center); and Mark Priest(owner of Legend Jewelers). These people said that the “hornytoad” was most common in the 50s. They also said there were notas many paved roads, restaurants, hotels and there was not a mallin San Angelo at that time. The horned lizard started to declinewhen all of this urbanization took place, and that was between the1960s and the 1980s. They said it wasn’t just all the building, but itwas also because ant beds were getting poisoned and the hornedtoads lost their food source.

I think the horned lizard started to decline in population in the1960s, but was not noticed to be disappearing until the mid 1980s.The population of San Angelo has almost doubled in the last 50years and with this growth in population it has taken away the nat-ural habitat for the horned lizard. The horned lizard populationhas declined because of the building of houses, the paving of roads,the poisoning of harvest ant beds, fire ants eating their eggs andbabies, their babies being made into jewelry, and many lizards wereshipped out of the state as “midget dinosaurs.”

I think we could save the horned lizard by discovering a way toonly poison fire ant beds and let the harvest ants live. Also if wewere to keep some vacant lots vacant and more natural environ-ment for them to live in.

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Grades 3-5 — Team EssayOh Where, Oh Where Have the Horned Toads Gone?

The Texas Horned Lizard is one of the famous creatures ofWest Texas. Lately however it seems like its doing a disappearingact! If you are lucky enough to spy this lizard that looks like a toadyou will notice it is a flat bodied, fierce looking lizard covered inhorns. It is brownish and has lots of scales. While it is not verypretty, it is a favorite animal and now a protected species.

Horned lizards eat mostly ants, but will also eat grasshoppers,

2004

winners

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2004 Hometown Horned Lizard Essay Contest Winnersbeetles and spiders. They wait for the prey to pass in front of themand quickly snap it up with a flick of their tongue and swallow itwhole. Hawks, roadrunners, snakes, other lizards, coyotes, groundsquirrels, mice, cats, and dogs like to eat horned lizards. Peoplethink horned toads might be almost gone because of the drought. Idisagree because our information tells us that the horned toads getthe water they need from ants they eat. Rain does attract fire ants.Fire ants have the same food source as red ants.

A person we interviewed was Don Crocket. He said they weremost common in the 1950s. He realized they were beginning to dis-appear around 1970s. He thinks they are disappearing becausehouses were destroying their homes, getting killed on the road, lessfood and boys who keep them for pets. Jonell Cristiani, anotherperson we interviewed, said that back then the alleys were made ofdirt and were much larger, she also said that a man in San Angelomelted horned toads in liquid gold, and made tie tacks and jewelryout of them. Charlie Godfrey, the last person we interviewed,started to notice they were becoming more rare. He thinks they aredisappearing because the town was developing and people werepoisoning ants. Their food source was destroyed. Ronald Brice saidhe put cigarettes in horned toad’s mouths, but did not light the cigarettes. That is what we got from our interviewees.

Today horned toads are rarely in sight. We think it is becausetheir habitat was destroyed. They are unique and it is right forthem to be a protected species. It is good to educate people aboutthe horny toad because once they were “everywhere” and now theyare few. We hope they come back.

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Grades 6-8 — Individual EssayLlano County “Horny Toads” or Texas Horned Lizard

Since people first settled Llano County in the 1840s, the TexasHorned Lizard, commonly known as the “horny toad,” has been asource of curiosity for people all over the county. For over a century, people have laughed at and children have played with thehorny toad. Over the last thirty years, there has been a sharpdecline in the population of the horny toads.

I am a student in Mrs. Goerdel’s sixth grade Pre-Ap Scienceclass in Llano. We are trying to draw conclusions as to what hashappened to the horny toads in Llano County. By doing research inour school library, using the Internet, and interviewing residents ofLlano County, we have tried to come up with a theory as to whythe Texas Horned Lizard is disappearing.

The Texas Horned Lizard, or the Phrynosoma cornutum, is aflat-bodied, fierce-looking lizard. It is about 2 1/2 to 6 1/2 incheslong. The head has many horns, and the two central spines of thelizard are much longer than the others. It has two rows of fringescales at each side of the abdomen. It is a brown color with a lightline down the head to the middle of the back. This is the onlyspecies of horned lizard to have dark brown stripes that go downfrom the eyes and across the top of the head.

The Texas Horned Lizard has a dragon-like appearance that

can be intimidating, however, the horny toad is really calm andgentle. The horny toad spends its days eating, bathing in the sun,and trying to stay away from predators. Their bodies and activitiesare based on a biological clock. They come out of their burrowsright before sunrise with their backs to the sun. They lay in the sunto bring a fast rise in their body temperature. Once they arewarmed, they remain active until it is time to go to the shade dur-ing the most intense heat of the day. Burrowing also helps thehorny toad to regulate its body temperature.

When the horny toad is threatened, its first reaction is to flatten out and freeze in place. This enables it to blend in with itssurroundings. Horny toads have the ability to lighten or darkentheir bodies to camouflage themselves also. Another defensive reaction of the lizard is to run briefly and suddenly stop, creatingthe illusion of disappearance. The horny toad is also capable ofinflating its body, hissing and even squirting up to one third of itsblood supply from their eyes at its predators.

The horny toad eats mainly Harvester ants, but will also eatgrasshoppers and beetles. The horny toad must eat from severalcolonies of Harvester ants to get enough food for itself. When theprey comes into reach, the horny toad flicks its tongue and quicklysnatches it and swallows it whole.

Hibernation begins in September usually and continues untillate April. A reproduction occurs soon after the toad comes out ofhibernation. After mating, the female will lay 13-45 eggs in a nest.After burying the eggs, she leaves them, never to be seen again.Some five to nine weeks later, the baby horny toads will hatch anduse a specialized “egg tooth” to make their way out of the egg. Thebaby horny toads must then fend for themselves.

The Texas Horned lizards live from South-Central UnitedStates to northern Mexico. They are found mainly in arid andsemiarid areas in sandy and loamy soils. The study area I chose formy interviews is rural Llano County, Texas. Llano County is locatedin Central Texas. Llano County is made up of 941 square miles ofthe Texas Hill Country. It is on the eastern edge of the EdwardsPlateau. Elevation is from 800 to 2,000 feet above sea level. The soilis sandy to sandy loam with granite outcroppings throughout muchof the county. Horny toads really like the sandy to sandy loam soils.Temperatures in Llano County range from an average high of 98ºFin July to an average low of 34ºF in January. Average yearly rainfall

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2004 Hometown Horned Lizard Essay Contest Winnersis 26.20 inches.

Llano County had a population of 1,109 people in the 1858census. This included 58 slaves. Farming was the chief occupationin the northern part of the county, and ranching was widespread inthe southern part at this time. The census showed 5,377 residentsin Llano County in 1950. In 1970, the census showed 6,979 people.In the 1990 census, the population was 11,631 residents in LlanoCounty. The latest census of 2000 revealed that 17,044 people livedin our county.

I interviewed six people ranging in age from 43 to 85 years.They have all lived most of their lives in Llano County. The 85 year-old-woman went to school in Llano in the 1920s and1930s. She said that one could always find the horny toads aroundthe red ant beds. Another person I interviewed said that when shewent to school in Llano in the 1940s and 1950s there were lots ofhorny toads at the schools on Oatman Street. School childrenwould catch horny toads and play with them. One man I inter-viewed said he used to catch the horny toads and hook them up tolittle wagons that he made out of matchboxes with string. Hewould then let the horny toads pull his wagon.

Most of the people interviewed thought the horny toad proba-bly declined or disappeared because of extensive use of pesticides.Interestingly, there was a chemical factory on the north side oftown that manufactured DDT, which was a very potent and long-lasting insecticide. It was built in the 1940s. It was stored in manywarehouses throughout the town.

The people I interviewed remembered seeing the horny toadless and less in the 1960s and even more so in the 1970s and 1980s.Some did not remember the last time they even saw a horny toad. Ibelieve that the horny toads are becoming rare in Llano Countybecause of pesticides and the fact that the community is expanding.In conducting the study, I have heard of some people recentlysighting horny toads in the remote areas of the county. I plan tofurther explore this on my own.

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Grades 6-8 — Team EssayThe Case of the Missing Texas Horned Lizards

Have you ever seen a reptilian creature with spikes running fromthe tip of its tail all the way to its blood-shooting eyes? If you’reunder the age of about 20, your answer may possibly be “No,”because these small interesting creatures have become less commonthan what they used to be. This is tragic! Our own state reptile, theTexas Horned Lizard, is becoming rare. We decided we MUST findwho or what is to blame, and find them we did! We surfed the web!We pored through pages and pages! We asked around our hometown! And now we present the product of our efforts! Our dearTexas Horned Lizard, your absence has not gone unnoticed! Yourcase shall be revealed!

The Texas Horned Lizard is actually of a rather gentle nature,despite its rough-looking appearance. It is light brown with darkbrown stripes running down its back. It is covered in small, butnoticeable spikes that increase in size around its crown. Theyemerge slightly before the sun peeks over the horizon in order tosunbathe. In this way they warm their bodies quickly and may thenproceed to go about their daily activities, such as eating insects,including red harvester ants, beetles and grubs. They also occupytheir time by avoiding predators. When a predator comes along,they press themselves against the earth and remain motionless sothat the hungry predator will overlook them. If the predator detectsthem, they may make themselves appear to be larger by inflatingthemselves with air. The Texas Horned Lizards are also capable ofhissing and emitting a jet of blood from their eyes in order tofrighten away hungry predators. Most of their activity goes on dur-ing the warm days of summer or early autumn. Texas HornedLizards hibernate from approximately September to April or possi-bly May. After they reappear from their hibernation, mating seasonbegins. After two lizards mate they dig an underground tunnel. Thefemale lays from thirteen to forty-five eggs. She warms them withher body for one night in the nest and leaves the nest, never toreturn. After five to nine weeks, the baby Texas Horned Lizardsemerge from their shells. These babies will have reproduced by thetime they are three years old, but the exact age of sexual maturity isunknown (TPWD 2003).

Texas Horned Lizards can be found in Oklahoma, Kansas, NewMexico, Colorado, some of Arizona and Mexico and, naturally,Texas. They are considered a threatened species in Texas andOklahoma (Davidson 2001). Our study covers an area in HoodCounty and the surrounding region where there are many farmsand ranches. Nearby water sources include the Brazos River andGranbury Lake. There are small hills throughout the region. One inparticular is Double Mountain in neighboring Palo Pinto County.

After interviewing twenty-seven people, we discovered thatTexas Horned Lizards were most common during the 1960s-1970s,at which time there were only about five or six thousand people inHood County (Forstall 1995). During this time period, the com-munity was less populated. They began to decline during the 1980swhen the population increased to approximately 18,000 people.

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2004 Hometown Horned Lizard Essay Contest WinnersSince then, the population has continued to increase rapidly. Mostpeople agreed that Texas Horned Lizard’s decrease was due to theincrease of population. Several people stated that at the beginningof Vacation Bible School when they were kids, they would captureTexas Horned Lizards and bring to church, have lizard races, andjust watch them run around.

We have concluded, based on interview results and researchthat our dear and beloved Texas Horned Lizard’s decline is due to acombination of several events that can be summed into one, theincrease in population. When people move in they clear land tobuild a house, during which they kill red harvester ants. They alsobring pets that devour the Texas Horned Lizards. People frequentlyflatten them with their cars, because the lizards sun-bathe on thehighways and should a vehicle approach, they freeze, thinking thecar is a predator that will not kill them if they do not see them.Whenever the lizards freeze in the middle of the road, the vehicleflattens them with their deadly tires.

To help the Texas Horned Lizards repopulate Texas, we haveonly to review our hypothesis and give our best efforts to preventthese things from occurring. We need to try providing ideal placesfor them to flourish. For example, during the year, mating seasonespecially, we can find a red harvester ant mound, feed the ants, diga hole a few yards away and fill it with moist earth. This will maketunnel-digging easier and a food supply convenient and plentiful.We should try to keep our pets away from ideal habitats for TexasHorned Lizards. In addition, we can create convenient baskingareas such as small concrete slabs or flat rocks. This will give thelizards more options besides basking on roadsides. We shouldwatch for lizards along the roadsides, and if we see one, we can tryto scare it off of the road, since touching it is illegal. A major stepwould be to convince the general public that harvester ants do usno harm unless we bother them first and that they do not need tobe exterminated. We can tell people Texas Horned Lizards are athreatened species. We must get people on the lizard’s side. We needto convince everyone to save the Texas Horned Lizards, our officialstate lizard. What a shame it would be for the TEXAS HornedLizard to be wiped out from TEXAS. We MUST do our best to savethe Texas Horned Lizard!

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Grades 9-12 — Individual EssayHorned Lizards

Do horned lizards, well known as horny toads, still exist in ourarea today? My research and interviews with a few locals might giveyou an idea of the number.

Have you ever seen a horned lizard? If so, do you know whatkind it is? Well, after thorough research, I have discovered that thereare three kinds of horned lizards in the state of Texas. These speciesare the Texas horned lizard, mountain short horned lizard, and theround tail horned lizard. The most well known in our area is theTexas horned lizard. Some of the physical characteristics of the

Texas horned lizards are they are a flat-bodied, fierce looking lizard.There are many horns on the head and down the back. In all of thehorned lizards, there is some kind of pattern that takes place withthe placement of their horns. It has blotches in pairs down the cen-ter of the back. These lizards are related to the anoles, and theanoles are related to some branch of the iguana family. If a hornedlizard has high blood pressure, it shows when the lizard starts tosquirt blood from its eyes. When it gets angry or scared, that causesthe capillaries to rupture. The ranchers like to keep the hornedlizards around because they like to eat ants, so the rancher gets inreturn, clean vegetables. There are many different kinds of hornedlizards besides just those three kinds. Most of them are found inKansas and Nebraska, westward to the Pacific Ocean. They alsorange from Canada, down to the south, to Mexico. The climatesthat they live in, or you can also say the landscapes that they live in,are places like deserts, prairies, plateaus and mountains. The repro-duction of horny toads is pretty simple. They go and dig a hole andlay their eggs inside of the hole, this mostly happens in June, andthen about seventy to ninety days later, the babies hatch. There isno scientific basis to this next statement, but it is lead to believethat some horned lizards are known to live up to two or threedecades when they are sealed in cornerstones or any other kind ofsimilar place.

My hometown, Andrews, Texas, is located in Andrews County.It is located near the towns of Odessa and Midland. We are knownas a desert town. We are probably also well known for our oil. As Iresearch our town, I came to find that in 1929, an oil well burstsand creates approximately six million oil barrels. This town doesn’thave many buildings, or many activities to do. Many of these factscould result in the answering of the mysterious horned lizards.

As I have interviewed quite a few locals, some of their informa-tion became very useful towards my hypothesis. Some of the localssaid that the horned lizards were common in the 1960s. During thistime, our community had a few differences from what we are today.First, our population wasn’t near as high as it is now. Therefore,there weren’t as many houses, and most people lived out in thecountry. The result of this is that there are more ant hills, horned

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2004 Hometown Horned Lizard Essay Contest Winnerslizards main food is ants. In the years 1990 to 2000, the hornedtoads started to decline. The community then started to increase.The population grew, and the houses began to overcome the town.Some people believe that they declined because of pesticides, chil-dren, cars, and other environmental causes. The pesticides arekilling all the ants, once again, the horned lizards favorite food. Thechildren probably like to play with them, and we all know childrencan’t be gentle with everything that they get their hands on. Thecars are known for road kill and horny toads are on the list of theanimals that lay on the side of the road. These reasons are very use-ful towards the decreasing of horny toads.

My hypothesis is that horned lizards started to decline withinthe late 1990s. This is taking place in Andrews, Texas. All of theresearch and interviews have helped me come to this conclusion.

Some of the investigation results of the town before and afterthe Texas horned lizards declined are changes in landscape, changesin the community, changes in agriculture and changes in pests,such as the fire ants. Some of the changes in the landscape are thefact that there are more houses are being built. As our communitygrows, there are going to be more houses built so that everyone willhave a place to live; therefore, there are less open areas. That meansthat if there isn’t anywhere for horny toads to make a home, sincethey dig holes to lay their eggs, then there really isn’t a good reasonfor them to stay around. Some of the changes in our community isthat we are growing in population and also that more buildingsand houses are being built. This is practically the same reason asthe changes in landscape. Agriculture is different from the past twowe just talked about, some of those changes are that we need morespace to grow crops and raise livestock, so we need more land sothat all of the horny toads won’t go farther and farther away sinceall of these houses are being built. If we don’t have any crops, thenwe don’t have any bugs, so that means we don’t have any hornytoads. The thing is, we don’t use space to grow crops or raise live-stock anymore because we can just buy everything at the store, andeveryone would rather do it the easy way, and just buy the thingsthey need at the store instead of growing it themselves. Now forsome changes in pests, farmers are using pesticides to kill ants, antsare horny toads main food, the horny toads might have gone some-where with more ants, and there are more birds coming to Andrewsand birds eat horny toads. The farmers are using the pesticides tokill the ants, so the horny toads could have left or died becausethere are no more ants, or they could have left or died because ofthe birds coming.

My analysis of what may have affected horned lizards declinein Andrews have mainly been expressed throughout this wholepaper. The fact that our population is growing and the houses arebeing built, the pesticides, the children, the cars, birds, and any-thing else that was named throughout this paper.

My conclusion about what, where, and why Texas hornedlizards became rare in this community has also been repeated. Thewhen is around the 1990s, quite a few of the interviewees havementioned different kinds of years that they have declined, but theyhave all been throughout the various numbers of the 90s. The

where is in our good old town of Andrews. The why is the manyreasons brought up throughout the interviews and the research andcommon knowledge. The reasons are the population, the houses,the pesticides, the children, the cars, birds and many others. Somethings that can be done to keep the lizards here are, we can make apark resort. Where we can breed and keep horned lizards safe at.Also, if we can make a place near the resort that’s made up of cropsand everyone can use the pesticides on their property and then noone uses it on this part, that way the ants will be there and maybesome more lizards will migrate over there, and they can put themin part of the resort.

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Grades 9-12 — Team EssayReasons for the Decline of the Texas Horned Lizard in ChildressCounty, Texas

IntroductionFor ages, the Texas Horned Lizard has been found all over

Childress County. The Texas Horned Lizard grew abundantly overthe years in Texas, and many hold fond memories of playing withthem as kids growing up in the Lone Star State. What happened tothese reptiles is still somewhat a mystery.

Today, there are fewer “Horned Toads” in Texas than everbefore. It is the goal of theAdvanced WildlifeClass ofChildressHighSchool inChildress,Texas tosolve the mystery.

By seekinginformation fromthe people of ourcommunity who havelived in the area over 40years, we received severalhumorous and inform-ative stories — many of which helpedus solve the puzzle of why the Texas Horned Lizard is disappearing.

Some Information about the Texas Horned LizardThe Texas Horned Lizard, also known as Phrynosoma

cornutum, is listed as a threatened species in Texas. This fiercelooking creature is composed of many spikes and horns across thetop of its body with two central spines on the top of its head. Itsbody length is from about 2 1/2-4 inches long. It has a variety of

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2004 Hometown Horned Lizard Essay Contest Winnerscolor patterns, but it is the only species ofhorned lizards that has a dark brown stripfrom the eyes across the top of head. Alongwith the stripes on the head, it has a dis-tinctive marking of dark brown or yellowspots across the back with a white mid-dorsal stripe.

Although the horned lizard has anintimidating exterior, it has a calm and gen-tle nature. It digs, burrows or occupies onetaken from another creature, which often isfound near the mounds of its favorite foodsource. The lizard is most active during thewarm days of summer and early fall, hiber-nating around September or October.Mating begins right after hibernation,usually in April or May. Its metabolism islowered during the period of hibernation.Most of the time, a horned lizard can befound lying on a hot surface tanning itsbody for warmth or in the middle of a harvester ant bed eating.

The Texas Horned Lizard has somevery unusual defense mechanisms. The firstdefense mechanism is expressed when dan-ger is felt. The horned lizard will flatten outits body and literally freeze. It also has theability to lighten or darken the body tocamouflage itself against the ground orbury itself under loose soil. The lizard alsohas ducts near the eyes with which it can“squirt” blood at predators. If it is suffi-ciently agitated, it may release up to 1/3 ofthe blood in its body!

About the Hometown Study AreaChildress County is located at the

southeastern edge of the Texas Panhandle.It’s bordered on the east by the state ofOklahoma, to the north by CollingsworthCounty, to the south by Cottle County andto the west by Hall County. Physical char-acteristics include miles and miles ofprairies and river bottoms. Occasionally,you will come across a few large hills butnothing more. The elevation of ChildressCounty is approximately 1,600 to 1,900 feetabove sea level.

Wildlife in Childress County includeswhitetail and mule deer, feral hogs, bob-white quail, mourning doves, assortedducks and other wildlife species. The soilsrange from sandy loamy to alluvial sands.

Brushy vegetation ranges from shin oak, saltcedar, hackberry and mesquite; while grasses are predominately mixed grassspecies including little and big bluestems,gramas and buffalo grass.

The temperature range in ChildressCounty is from 24 degrees Fahrenheit in thewinter to 100 degrees Fahrenheit during thesummer. On average, we can expect about20.67 inches of rainfall annually. The onlyriver in Childress County is the Prairie DogTown Fork of the Red River. The countyseat is also named Childress. Both werenamed after George C. Childress who wrotethe Texas Declaration of Independence.Childress originally served as a stop fortrains passing through. All in all, ChildressCounty is one of the most diverse areas inTexas in terms of vegetation, wildlife and people.

Interviewee ResultsThe interviews we conducted were in

December 2003, and the results were com-piled in early January 2004. Each classmember was asked to interview two peoplethat have lived in this county most of theirlives. We compiled 24 interviews total.

Interviewee Profile■ Average age of interviewees is

58 years old.■ Each interviewee lived in Childress an

average of 41 years.■ 100% of the interviewed people remem-

ber seeing horned toads in their lifetime,and 73% replied that they have seen ahorned toad in the last year.

■ When asked when they first saw hornedtoads, the average answer was around1958 and they thought horned toadswere most prevalent around 1962.

■ 76% replied that the town was less pop-ulated when Texas Horned Lizards weremore plentiful.

■ 24% said the town hasn’t changed.■ 64% said that horned toads started to

become less prevalent around 10 yearsago, and 36% said it was over 20 years ago.

■ Most people think the leading cause ofhorned toad population decrease is dueto cotton boll weevil eradication and

more spraying of pesticides which inturn affects the Horned Toad’s foodsupply.

■ The lack of bare ground due to theConservation Reserve Program and adecrease in farm and rangeland is alsobelieved to be a leading cause of TexasHorned Lizard decline.

■ With the population increase, there aremore cars, which put horned lizards atthe risk of being run over on the road.Studies show a 66% increase in traffic inChildress County from 1988 to 1998.

When we analyze the interviewee com-posite data, we notice that trends begin tooccur that help us to unravel the mystery ofwhat is happening to the Texas HornedLizard in our community. First, let’s take alook at Chart 1:

When asked if interviewees noticed thedecline of Texas Horned Lizards, accordingto Chart 2, 21% said that they never noticedthe decline in horned toad population,whereas 79% said that they did notice adecline in the number of horned toads overthe years.

Chart 1Last Year Horned Lizards Where Seen

14%

9%5%

72%

20031990s1980s1970s

No21%

Yes79%

Chart 2

Respondents Noticing the Decline in Horned Lizards

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2004 Hometown Horned Lizard Essay Contest WinnersChart 3 illustrates interviewee’s percep-

tion of our hometown and how it haschanged. A mere 24% of people thinks thatthe population is the same as it was in the60s. There are about 76% that believe thereare fewer people since the 60s.

Chart 4 represents the time frame in whichinterviewees started noticing the disappear-ance of the Texas Horned Lizard. Mostpeople didn’t realize that they started tobecome scarce until the last ten years, butan equal amount of people noticed thedecrease as long ago as 20 and 30 years.

Investigation ResultsAccording to our research, we have foundthat the horned toad population started todecrease in the 1970s. Despite the decrease,seventy-two percent of people in this home-town have seen a horned toad in the lastyear. This percent indicates a healthy butreduced horned lizard population.

The interviews we conducted indicatethe reason for the decreased population.The general consensus believed the leadingcause of horned toads disappearance is due

to the cotton boll weevil eradication pro-gram. Also, the increase in spraying ofpesticides further depletes the horned toadsfood supply, which is composed of ants andother insects. The Conservation ReserveProgram also took its toll on the TexasHorned Lizard population because it tookbare ground and turned it into grassland.This disappearance of bare land has causedthe ant population to decrease; therefore,diminishing the food source of the hornedlizard. Many horned toads are on theroads because of the bare ground. They aretrying to catch ants. Therefore, theincreased population of cars has also hurtthe horned lizard population.

Looking at research conducted by theChildress High School’s Advanced WildlifeManagement Class in 2001, they reportedthat over the past years in Childress Countyseveral changes have taken place including:■ A 15.5% increase in population■ A 63.3% increase in daily traffic■ A 56% decrease in Farm Land■ A 100% increase in Conservation

Reserve Program acreage

The class reported that these factorsconspired in the reduction of the overallTexas Horned Toad numbers in the com-munity, and we concur with these findingsas our interviews uphold their results.

All in all, we think several things influ-enced the decline of Texas Horned Lizardsin the Childress County area includingincreased population, traffic and loss of

farmland. Above all, it is our conclusion thatthe loss of two critical habitat components,food and bare ground, are the main culpritsfor their demise. The loss of food, primarilyharvester ants, can be attributed to theaggressive spraying of Malathion used tocontrol cotton boll weevils and otherinsects that affect cotton, and the loss ofbare ground can be attributed to theincrease in CRP land and a decrease infarmland. Since farmland creates ideal bareground habitat around its margins in whichharvester ants find ideal foraging condi-tions, Texas Horned Lizards are naturallydrawn to these areas.

In conclusion, we believe that TexasHorned Lizards prefer open ground areasdevoid of plant litter because it makes forag-ing easier. Last year on the Childress HighSchool’s Wildlife Management Area, overtwo dozen Texas Horned Lizards were sighted. Investigating the frequency of thesightings, we discovered that the composi-tion of the land is made up of 57.6% grassland and 42.4% bare ground. On theland there is also an ample supply of har-vester ants.

Finally, as bare ground steadily disap-pears so does the Texas Horned Lizard population. Whether it is purposely oraccidentally, urbanization, the decrease in farmland, and the increased use of pesti-cides is slowly taking its toll on the TexasHorned Lizard.

❖❖❖❖❖Last 30Years18%

Last 20 Years18%

Last 10Years64%

Chart 4

Years Respondants Noted the Decrease ofTexas Horned Lizard

Like itis now21%

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76%

Chart 3

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