A Horny Toad Can Tell You Which Way to Go

BoyNhisDog · Post by **BoyNhisDog** » Jul 28 2002 1:41 pm

Saw this one on a hike through the desert today. We have had another very good rain yesterday of at least an inch in town and more in the surrounding mountains and desert. The ground is still wet and saturated.

Horny Toad

"A horny toad can tell you which way to go. I used to know these things. Then I became civilized." Chief Dan George in The Outlaw Josey Wales.

kurthzone · Post by **kurthzone** » Jul 29 2002 8:05 am

Very cool picture Glen! I remember when growing up in the 50's in the area of 27th ave and Missouri there was a field across from our house with lots of those lilttle creatures. We would catch them and they would secrete some kind of tears that had the appearance of blood. Don't know if it really was or not. We didn't squeeze them or anything, they just did it when it captivity. Saw a couple of them on a rock on the Reavis trail a few years ago, but other than that I haven't seen any for a long time.

nealz · Post by **nealz** » Jul 29 2002 10:53 am

Very cool pix. That toad looks fairly content to just sit there and satisfy the papparazzi!

'Them sireens just loved him up and turned him into a horney toad!

Delmar from 'Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?'

-Nealz

BoyNhisDog · Post by **BoyNhisDog** » Jul 29 2002 12:20 pm

He was a little ham. I never touched him but I put the camera about six inches away from him when photographing. He let me do a series of about 7 shots and then he went off into the bushes. I also captured an interesting shot of three buzzards in a dead tree on the same hike. They came out mostly silhouette but one had it's wings extended and you could see some detail. All in all it was a good couple of hours in the desert.

Funny movie Nealz.

kurthzone · Post by **kurthzone** » Jul 29 2002 12:57 pm

Sorry, compulsive behavior attack; had to do a little research on the little fellers. The following is from this site
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/a ... ative.html

There are other unique behaviors of the Texas Horned Lizard, which aid in its survival. For example when an enemy approaches the lizard it will inflate itself, and if it is sufficiently frightened it can squirt up 1/3 of its volume of blood out of a pore near the eye (Middendorf and Sherbrooke 1992). One behavior that may explain how it can persist in arid habitats is the process of "rain-harvesting." During heavy rains the lizard will stand high on its feet, spread the body out flat, and lower the head so that falling rain will be funneled to the mouth through interscalar channels (Sherbrooke 1990).

I guess that makes me the enemy. I know I never saw a 1/3 of their blood. I was a kid and didn't know any better. I leave them alone now.

olesma · Post by **olesma** » Jul 29 2002 1:34 pm

Sheesh Glen - you could use that picture to frighten children! At that range he looks like a freaking monster!

Great picture.

There is a Mountain Horned Toad that I have seen at about the 1/3 mark on the Horton Springs trail the last 3 times I have done the trail. A Mountian Horned Toad is more reddish in color than the desert variety we have in the valley, and their spines are much shorter, they are also quite a bit smaller in size. But the one up there is quite content to have you pick him up - as long as you let him go again right were you found him.

joebartels · Post by **joebartels** » Jul 29 2002 2:15 pm

Anybody know the name of this boy?

http://hikearizona.com/trails/payson/drew/drew34.jpg

http://hikearizona.com/trails/payson/drew/drew35.jpg

I've searched the web and haven't seen anything so soft or evenly colored.

MaryPhyl · Post by **MaryPhyl** » Jul 29 2002 2:39 pm

How big is he?

joebartels · Post by **joebartels** » Jul 29 2002 2:47 pm

Maybe 4-5 inches long, I'm not sure it's been a year or so. You'd think he was a Sedona native by the color but saw him on the Drew Trail just east of See Canyon.

BoyNhisDog · Post by **BoyNhisDog** » Jul 29 2002 2:58 pm

teva wrote:Anybody know the name of this boy?

Olesma wrote:There is a Mountain Horned Toad that I have seen at about the 1/3 mark on the Horton Springs trail the last 3 times I have done the trail. A Mountian Horned Toad is more reddish in color than the desert variety we have in the valley, and their spines are much shorter

Sounds like Olesma's description. Very nice shot Joe.

Here are the Vultures I captured a few minutes after the horny toad. Not too good a shot with the distance to the top of their tree and the bright sky but the one did extend his wings for the camera.

Buzzards at the Ready

olesma · Post by **olesma** » Jul 30 2002 3:09 pm

teva wrote:Anybody know the name of this boy?

I've searched the web and haven't seen anything so soft or evenly colored.

That's a mountain horned toad alright. 4 or 5 inches you say? That's about the right size for an adult. He looks a little skinny - but drought conditions and all, that isn't surprising.

evenstarx3 · Post by **evenstarx3** » Jul 30 2002 3:43 pm

teva wrote:Anybody know the name of this boy?

http://hikearizona.com/trails/payson/drew/drew34.jpg

http://hikearizona.com/trails/payson/drew/drew35.jpg

I've searched the web and haven't seen anything so soft or evenly colored.

Sheesh....I thought it was a photo of one of Teva's feet after a double on Squaw Peak in Teva's :P

olesma · Post by **olesma** » Jul 30 2002 11:50 pm

evenstarx3 wrote: Sheesh....I thought it was a photo of one of Teva's feet after a double on Squaw Peak in Teva's :P

Hey! Now that you mention it....the resemblance is uncanny!

Course - it could also be a picture of you without your hat. Notice the lack of hair......

evenstarx3 · Post by **evenstarx3** » Jul 31 2002 5:42 am

olesma wrote: Course - it could also be a picture of you without your hat. Notice the lack of hair......

Bald is beautiful; God made a few perfect heads. The rest he covered with hair :!: :P

Mike · Post by **Mike** » Jul 31 2002 6:17 am

evenstarx3 wrote: Bald is beautiful; God made a few perfect heads. The rest he covered with hair :!: :P

Cool!! My head is getting closer and closer to perfection every day!!

evenstarx3 · Post by **evenstarx3** » Jul 31 2002 7:35 am

Mike wrote: Cool!! My head is getting closer and closer to perfection every day!!

Can we get Mrs. Mike's opinion on that? Hmmmmm

: :twisted: