The Unique Horned Lizard

The Foothills area is a mosaic of diverse microhabitats such as rocky outcroppings, grasslands, scrub oak woodlands, and swaths of mule-ears (a friendly yellow bloom in the sunflower family). While some of these habitats are obviously beautiful to our eyes, other microhabitats may look barren as we quickly pass through them. For example, many ridges and slopes have patches of hot, rocky, exposed ground with little plant growth. While you may assume few creatures live here, the unique and cute Greater short-horned lizards ("horny toads") thrive in these seemingly desolate areas.

Quite mild-mannered, horned lizards are broad, awkward, lumpy, and a little clumsy. Their unusual appearance (compared to that of other lizards) and brown coloration make them well-camouflaged and able to avoid a predator's notice if they remain motionless. They tend to sit and wait for ants to wander close enough for them to slurp up. As such, you may not notice them unless they move or perch on a rock.

By Hilary Jacobs