Hold That Horny Toad!

In a previous post, Horny Toad, I was holding it and taking pictures, but I later had one of my young, pretty kinfolk hold the reptile for me for a few photos.

Her manicure was much, much better than mine.

Spittin' Mad

Did you know the horned lizard (or "horny toad") defends itself by squirting blood from its eyes?



We've got some horny toad posts. (with pictures, if you don't like to read!)

Horny Toad

Went to an uncle's funeral this morning and afterwards went out to visit with my cousins at one's son's house. (my second cousin? First cousin twice-removed? I always get those mixed up) As I was getting out of my pickup, I saw some movement on the ground and it was this young "horned lizard".

(click any pic for larger view; last photo is super-high resolution)







They're getting very rare; when I was a kid, they were all over, especially around red ant beds. Since people will not tolerate ants and poison their mounds, now the horny toads have had their main supply of food cut off.

It's a shame, because while they look fiercesome, they're really docile creatures. You have to roughly handle one to get them to even open their toothless mouths at you. Horny toads can also eject or "spit" blood from their eyes (or thereabouts) and I've seen it exactly twice in all the hundreds of horny toads I've handled and seen handled. If you lie them on their backs and gently rub their tummy, they'll fall asleep.

So will I, but that's prob. TMI, huh?

A FEW MORE PICTURES

15 Seconds of Fame

15 Seconds of TV Fame, but 24 hrs. of online fame, not really a lot of difference.

Submitted a Horny Toad photo, cropped some, to an Amarillo TV station's website and it was selected as the Photo of the Day; they even showed it on the five o'clock news and mentioned my name. It was funny because I had the subtitles on and it spelled out my last name in an amusing manner. (I'm used to it by this stage of my life, and it used to be annoying but these days I just try to see the humor in it)

I had someone come to the door just a minute before it started, so I didn't get to see all fifteen seconds of the spot. The female anchor said something about Texas Aggies, so a joke must have been made about TCU.

(TCU was interested in me as a football player back when I was a senior in h.s.; I once got a standard form letter from them addressed to: "Dear Athlete,". They really weren't too interested in semi-mediocre-sized fish in teensy-tiny ponds that played 8-Man football.)

Anyway, missed 3/4 of the program. Wished I'd taped it...

Nah, not really.

Here's a screenshot from the KVII Community section:



I'm a little worried about my "real name" being "out there" (you're not paranoid if someone really IS out to get you, you know) but I doubt Interpol watches Texas Panhandle television.

I've found my newest obsession: Submitting photos to KVII until they block my ISP or get a restraining order against me.

Obeng Lucy

Hi sweetie, How's going on ? I'm obeng Lucy by name , single Woman never married with no Kids. I'm the honest type, sincere, upfront, affectionate, passionate and God fearing . I just came across your profile , I have to admit that I really enjoy reading it and your picture looks interesting. I'm looking for a serious man to start a serious friendship which is going to lead to something wonderful in the near future. I know you will be wondering where I got your email , please don't look scared, I copied your username on the dating site and paste it in goggle search and it really turn out that your username is the same as your email address so predict that would be you exact and I decided to send you an email , I really want to get to know you in any way because I like your profile. Take care and be looking forward hearing from you with a smile. Lots of kisses and hugs. Until your next..

obenglove609430@gmail.com

Dear Obeng Lucy,

You might have seen my profile, but there's no information under it and any photo I had associated with it was that of a horny toad.

No, my user name ISN'T the same, not in here and since I don't belong to any dating sites....

"honest type, sincere, upfront, affectionate, passionate and God fearing"

SURE you are!  Why aren't you spammer/scammers REALLY honest?  "Hello, my name is Matinga Dubuko.  I am a 33 yr. old man,  live in Nigeria and am only pretending to be a woman in order to dupe you into sending me money or sending you a link with my "sexy photos" so that you'll click it and then download some malware that will take over your computer and email accounts and all your passwords."

"Please don't look scared..." Oh, I'm not.  I would love to meet you in person and take a sledgehammer to your hands so you'd never be able to send out this crap ever again.

The caption on your shirt says it all:  GREED.

The Legend of Old Rip

Legend says a horny toad (a.k.a. horned lizard) named Old Rip survived for decades trapped inside a brick of the courthouse in Eastland, Texas. When he was found alive, Old Rip became an instant celebrity