We have them down here too. Never realized they changed color also till I started messing with them. Cool little guys...
dryfly,
yours appears to be a roundtail horned lizard from what I can see in your pics.
Anyone interested, there's a decent book or two by Wade C. Sherbrooke.
2003 version
1981 version that I have:
loads of info on the critters.
Pretty cool, thanks. 👍🏻
Don’t know much about them except I had one bought at a pet shop for a time when I was kid. Always thought they were cool. I think I used to feed him meal worms and crickets but I was maybe seven or eight at the time so don’t recall much about it. Could be misremembering it’s for the turtle and toad I also had. Always been fascinated by critters. I’ll check it out.
Saw one of those out West on an elk mountain, old guy back at camp told me the locals call 'em Mountain Boomers, cool little critter, i picked it up and gave it a good looking over.
Mountain Boomer... That's interesting. Ozark Mountain hillbillies nickname the Eastern Collared Lizard "Mountain Boomer" or "Glade Bitch." The Collared Lizard will stand on its hind legs and run away if surprised. Sometimes they get confused and might run directly at you . That shakes some folks when a 12" lizard charges them unexpectedly! I think Arkansas and Oklahoma have these dudes also. Ever seen one?
Saw one of those out West on an elk mountain, old guy back at camp told me the locals call 'em Mountain Boomers, cool little critter, i picked it up and gave it a good looking over.
Mountain Boomer... That's interesting. Ozark Mountain hillbillies nickname the Eastern Collared Lizard "Mountain Boomer" or "Glade Bitch." The Collared Lizard will stand on its hind legs and run away if surprised. Sometimes they get confused and might run directly at you . That shakes some folks when a 12" lizard charges them unexpectedly! I think Arkansas and Oklahoma have these dudes also. Ever seen one?
Some folks get shaken when a 6" snake "charges" them too.
people are funny about reptiles and such. Might be Biblical?
The desert is a true treasure for him who seeks refuge from men and the evil of men. In it is contentment In it is death and all you seek (Quoted from "The Bleeding of the Stone" Ibrahim Al-Koni)
God bless Texas----------------------- Old 300 I will remain what i am until the day I die- A HUNTER......Sitting Bull Its not how you pick the booger.. but where you put it !! Roger V Hunter
Saw one of those out West on an elk mountain, old guy back at camp told me the locals call 'em Mountain Boomers, cool little critter, i picked it up and gave it a good looking over.
Mountain Boomer... That's interesting. Ozark Mountain hillbillies nickname the Eastern Collared Lizard "Mountain Boomer" or "Glade Bitch." The Collared Lizard will stand on its hind legs and run away if surprised. Sometimes they get confused and might run directly at you . That shakes some folks when a 12" lizard charges them unexpectedly! I think Arkansas and Oklahoma have these dudes also. Ever seen one?
Some folks get shaken when a 6" snake "charges" them too.
people are funny about reptiles and such. Might be Biblical?
I used to take my boa constrictor to study outside on the big benches of the university student union while in high School. She would curl up next to me while I studied. You'd be surprised. Which students do you think were the scared most?
Saw one of those out West on an elk mountain, old guy back at camp told me the locals call 'em Mountain Boomers, cool little critter, i picked it up and gave it a good looking over.
Mountain Boomer... That's interesting. Ozark Mountain hillbillies nickname the Eastern Collared Lizard "Mountain Boomer" or "Glade Bitch." The Collared Lizard will stand on its hind legs and run away if surprised. Sometimes they get confused and might run directly at you . That shakes some folks when a 12" lizard charges them unexpectedly! I think Arkansas and Oklahoma have these dudes also. Ever seen one?
We always called collared lizards Mountain Boomers too. Last on I saw was out on Cedar Mtn. in Llano Co. We used to catch horny toads on the playground at school. Turn em loose in class.
Last edited by kaywoodie; 07/09/20.
Founder Ancient Order of the 1895 Winchester
"Come, shall we go and kill us venison? And yet it irks me the poor dappled fools, Being native burghers of this desert city, Should in their own confines with forked heads Have their round haunches gored."
Saw one of those out West on an elk mountain, old guy back at camp told me the locals call 'em Mountain Boomers, cool little critter, i picked it up and gave it a good looking over.
Mountain Boomer... That's interesting. Ozark Mountain hillbillies nickname the Eastern Collared Lizard "Mountain Boomer" or "Glade Bitch." The Collared Lizard will stand on its hind legs and run away if surprised. Sometimes they get confused and might run directly at you . That shakes some folks when a 12" lizard charges them unexpectedly! I think Arkansas and Oklahoma have these dudes also. Ever seen one?
We always called collared lizards Mountain Boomers too. Last on I saw was out on Cedar Mtn. in Llano Co. We used to catch horny toads on the playground at school. Turn em loose in class.
The horny toads used to be all over the place in West Texas. Ive seen only a few the last several years after 25 years of none.
I once saw a huge red one at about 8000 feet on a pine ridge in NM while deer hunting.
Ecc 10:2 The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but that of a fool to the left.
A Nation which leaves God behind is soon left behind.
"The Lord never asked anyone to be a tax collector, lowyer, or Redskins fan".
When I was a kid, we’d carry the babies around in a match box in our pocket.
Here’s a story about a “famous” local horned toad :
"Allways speak the truth and you will never have to remember what you said before..." Sam Houston Texans, "We say Grace, We Say Mam, If You Don't Like it, We Don't Give a Damn!"
Saw one of those out West on an elk mountain, old guy back at camp told me the locals call 'em Mountain Boomers, cool little critter, i picked it up and gave it a good looking over.
Mountain Boomer... That's interesting. Ozark Mountain hillbillies nickname the Eastern Collared Lizard "Mountain Boomer" or "Glade Bitch." The Collared Lizard will stand on its hind legs and run away if surprised. Sometimes they get confused and might run directly at you . That shakes some folks when a 12" lizard charges them unexpectedly! I think Arkansas and Oklahoma have these dudes also. Ever seen one?
Some folks get shaken when a 6" snake "charges" them too.
people are funny about reptiles and such. Might be Biblical?
I used to take my boa constrictor to study outside on the big benches of the university student union while in high School. She would curl up next to me while I studied. You'd be surprised. Which students do you think were the scared most?
The ones who would take a huge detour around me, 50-100 yards, were the big girly boys who played college football. A couple of the players didn't see her until they were just passing by. They did a left right fake and run quicker than on the field.😁 The pretty girly girls would approach me without hesitation. You'd think I took a tiny puppy on campus😄
When I was a kid, we’d carry the babies around in a match box in our pocket.
Here’s a story about a “famous” local horned toad :
That was one of the best stories on a reptile I think I have ever heard. Out of all the bug's bunny cartoons, That's probably my favorite...i mean when I used to watch them of course. They definitely ripped the idea from Rip when they used the frog.
Don't they squirt blood from their eyes when you pick them up?
Happycamper: Yes, they do have the ability squirt some nocuous fluid from somewhere around their eyes. A distasteful repellent of some kind and I think a last resort deal if they're really getting thrashed. Never had one cut loose on us during chase and capture endeavors.
Locally some of our larger lizards will make a grab if they think they can swallow a horny toad. When seized the toad will inflate its body in an attempt to become too large to handle. If they escape or feel threatened, they'll also tip toward one side or the other displaying their greatest dimension and the camo patterns on their back.
They are neat little critters, but fading to things like cheatgrass or medusahead invasions that put a dense carpet of stems on the ground. With their wide bodies they can't run through dense stands of grass. In this region they're mostly in sagebrush/bunchgrass stands that have a lot barren interspaces between tussocks and shrubs.
Dryfly24: Yes, your version is a different cat, and we have those east of Oregon's Steens Mts in the Alvord basin. Not seen any east of there, but I'd guess there should be some in the Owyhee drainage. As to diet, I think they'll do anything that will fit in their mouth. I remember watching one my kid kept shoving down amazingly large grass hoppers For a brief span he kept one indoors in a tank with a screened lid on top. It would nail hoppers, spiders, and even catch house flies. They have a sticky tongue like frogs they can flip out help nail quick moving bugs. Fun to watch when the vision locks on to a bug. They'd crawl in close and then its tail would start twitching as it prepped for a forward leap. The tongue would flip out and even the flies rarely escaped.
I too believe they are a protected species and difficult to feed year round if kept indoors. Our kid once summered one in a screened in outdoor pen where insects had ready access. He then put in a bucket of sand and it overwintered (hibernated) in our root cellar. Got it going again next spring and released it back in its original haunts.
I think it was Murphy, Idaho that used to have an annual toad race as a reason to come to town and help fund the local fire guys. Put the toads under cover in the center of a circle and lift the lid. First to the perimeter was the winner. In our feel good era though, I suspect it's a lost event.
That's cool. Thanks for the info on the eye defense.
They have some of the spiniest scales in the reptile kingdom....very unique....and good camo. The spines really break up that outline. Maybe I'll buy a captive bred one sometime...now that I know that they'll eat other insects. There's bound to be plenty of breeding programs for these in the pet trade.
The horny toad race reminds me of the box tortoise races that we used to have. Lots of fun for parents and kids.
I didn't take a close up as I was striving to show how well camouflaged they are, from my predatory perspective of my 5'8" or so frame.
The desert is a true treasure for him who seeks refuge from men and the evil of men. In it is contentment In it is death and all you seek (Quoted from "The Bleeding of the Stone" Ibrahim Al-Koni)
We had horned toad lizards here at one time, fire ants killed them out
fire ants killed displaced the red harvester ant which is the horny toad's main food souse.
God bless Texas----------------------- Old 300 I will remain what i am until the day I die- A HUNTER......Sitting Bull Its not how you pick the booger.. but where you put it !! Roger V Hunter
While walking it just caught my eye as "abnormal".
The desert is a true treasure for him who seeks refuge from men and the evil of men. In it is contentment In it is death and all you seek (Quoted from "The Bleeding of the Stone" Ibrahim Al-Koni)