Some days it is a bit difficult to maintain an optimistic attitude. This morning I went out to water only to find that those pesky Peccary had munched their way through my little garden. Again. And they did more damage than usual. My purple cone flower-gone. My budded out about to bloom Johnson''s Geranium-severely cropped, and horror of horrors, several bites were taken from my treasured Franz Schubert Phlox. A large branch was bitten off, and presumably consumed, from my early Girl tomato. It took a big,-really big-possibly the Goliath of all the javelinas to rear up, and plant his fat, cloven hoof in a half-whiskey barrel to desecrate that tomato plant. Apparently, to a peccary, deadly nightshade is a delicacy.
It seems that the horned lizards living in hot desert areas lay eggs in the sand. The sand remains warm enough to incubate the eggs in the lower climes, but the horned lizard in cooler climes gives live birth. I know our local horny toads (I know-I know, a misnomer as they are not toads, but when someone says horny toad to one of us local-yokels we know what they're talking about) give live birth and that they really can spray blood from the corners of their eyes when under extreme duress.
I found an article on horned lizards here. I think our local genus is Phrynosoma,hernandesi
A bit faded, but still, I do love this picture.
9 comments:
What great pics of the lizard! I love lizards, & we usually have a family of Bluetongues come for the summer, but this year they didnt arrive.
I also discovered I rather like snakes, & dont mind them draped around me! But only the ones I know are not poisonous of course!
Lovely photo of Roo in the garden.
Splendid horny toad! I didn't realize that live birth was a mountain thing-- one of these days I'll scan the photos of our introduction to such live births! Once the Database from Hell is done & over with, that is.
meggie, I'm not familiar with bluetongues. They sound exotic and interesting as so many creatures in your area are to us. We have quite a few garter snakes living here and my son's family has several pet snakes.
Granny J, I knew about live birth, but didn't know any horny toads laid eggs until I just read about it. Looking forward to your pics! Blast the Database!
I stopped by from Granny's blog. Nice horny toad. Too bad about the Javelina eating in your garden.
Steve, thanks for stopping by..and thanks too, for the sympathy...
Lovely picture of Roo faded or not. And the horned lizard, how great to have such a magical looking creature around. I don't know what a Javelina is but by the sound of them I'm glad I don't have them in my garden!
rowan, thanks for the visit. How right you are! Our local pig-like critters would love to munch their way through your lush environs.
Wonderful picture of the horny toad. Disgusted he may be but he looked quite content to pose for pictures.
I am another blogger living here in Prescott, and I had an inquiry from a family who's thinking of moving to Prescott from another part of the country and wanted to find others in the area to correspond with before making their decision.
Your blog and interesting life makes me think that they might like enjoy talking to you. I have posted their letter to me on MY blog and would like to invite you to stop by to see if this is something you would be willing to put some time into? Thanks for considering.
Post a Comment