When was the last time you saw a horned toad? Have you ever seen one? I know some young people who have never viewed one in the wild.

Although commonly called a horned toad, horny toad or horned frog, it is neither a toad nor a frog. The true name is the Texas horned lizard.

The Texas horned lizard is the most widely distributed of 14 species in the western United States.

About 70 percent of the horned lizard’s diet is made of red harvester ants, though they supplement their diet with termites, beetles and grasshoppers.

In recent years, the horned lizard has declined or disappeared in about 30 percent of its range. The decline is blamed on overuse of pesticides and the spread of non-native but highly aggressive and territorial red imported fire ants.

Fire ants eradicate harvester ant beds, destroying the horned lizard’s principal source of food. I can’t remember how long it has been since I saw a red ant bed on our ranch, and in the 15 years we have lived here, I have not seen a horned toad.

Viewing a horned toad in the wild has become rare. Also called a horny toad or horned frog, the reptile is neither a toad nor a frog, and its proper name is the Texas horned lizard. PHOTO COURTESY OF TPWD The Texas horned lizard is a protected species, and it is illegal in Texas to take, possess, transport or sell them without a special permit. The horned lizard is the state reptile of Texas, and the “horned frog” is the mascot of Texas Christian University.

You can even purchase a special Texas license plate with a picture of a horned toad on it.

The last horned toad I saw was almost 20 years ago while working with the USDA Soil Conservation Service in Johnson City.

Several Blanco County ranchers and I attended an Association of Hill Country Soil and Water Conservation Districts meeting in Ozona. The morning portion of the meeting was a tour of a ranch southeast of Ozona, where several conservation practices such as brush control and range seeding were viewed.

At one of the tour stops, a rancher friend spotted a horned toad and picked it up. Even back then it was a rarity to see a horned toad, and immediately most of the 100 or so people attending the tour crowded around to see it.

The tour temporarily came to a halt while photos of the lizard were taken. The rancher then put the horned toad on the ground, and the tour continued.

The Texas horned lizard is a flatbodied, fierce-looking creature. Its head has numerous horns; all of them are prominent, with two central head spines being much longer than any of the others. The horned lizard is brownish with two rows of fringed scales along each side of the body.

One unusual feature of a horned toad is that it can squirt blood from its eyelids at a target, which usually is a predator such as a fox, coyote or dog.

The lizards can be found in arid and semi-arid habitats in open areas with sparse plant cover. Because horned toads dig for hibernation, nesting and insulation purposes, they commonly are found in loose sand or loamy soils.

I remember while attending elementary school in Copperas Cove the playground consisted only of dirt and rocks with very little grass. It was not uncommon to see several horned toads on the playground every day.

“Old Rip” is the most famous horned toad in Texas. Legend has it that Old Rip spent 31 years in the cornerstone of the Eastland County Courthouse. When he woke up, the horned toad traveled around the country and even met President Calvin Coolidge. A horned toad mounted in a small casket can still be viewed in the Eastland courthouse.

There is hope for the Texas horned lizard, as the Fort Worth Zoo has a captive-breeding program, and the zoo has had limited success in raising the lizard.

If you are really interested in horned toads, you can become a member of the Horned Lizard Conservation Society, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the lizards throughout North America. Their Web site is www.hornedlizards.org.

You can also join the Texas Parks and Wildlife Horned Lizard Watch. Go to the TPWD Web site for details.

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A special thanks goes to my readers who commented on the algerita jelly columns. I received several suggestions on how to make successful jelly. One lady even gave me a jar of algerita jelly she made. It was very good on my homemade biscuits. Thank you, Phyllis.

Former Soil Conservation Service employee and longtime writer Mat Taylor offers his outdoors column for Dispatch Record readers. He can be contacted at (254) 518-2262 or via e-mail at mntaylor@wildblue.net.