Horny Toads...An environmental tale!

The wildlife around here keeps our kids, and well the adults too, on our toes. You can't live in Texas without knowing about the Horny Toad. They are an endangered species actually, and there are all sorts of rumors about them. WB loves to tell the kids they squirt blood from their eyeballs, but come on, really! George has been seen with a few in his beaks, which always raises a loud cry of protest from the girls...."NOT the horny toads, they are endangered!!" And I'm sad to say that I never really thought it was that big of a deal if George or whoever decided to snack on one for lunch until this:

I mean look how cute he is, in a lizardly kind of way.

Actually, his little beady black eyes look very intelligent and watch you as you press your nose close to his face. He lets you hold him and seem to be as curious about you as you are about them. I'm going out on a limb here, but I think they are sweet and would make a great pet, if that was allowed, but it isn't. I think the Horny Toad Patrol or someone would come to your door and demand it's release. This probably would come with a fine and public humiliation. Who knows, you might even be forced to deal with some governmental agency and you know how I love those experiences! I can't take the risk of any of that happening.

WB, who is full of knowledge by the way, says that the disappearance of the Horny Toads is due to the disappearance of the Harvester Ants. This being their main source of food. Cold chills swept through my body at this little bit of information. Because I realized I, myself, am responsible for major environmental havoc. I'm admitting this to you because I feel like I need to confess (yes, the Catholic in me comes out in such weird ways). Here's how I've single handily tried to destroy this little creature. I asked the pest man to get rid of the Harvester ants on my sidewalks and driveway. They bite, which my kids found out shortly after moving here. So you see it's people like me that are destroying the habitat of the Horny Toad!

I apologized profusely to this little guy and told him I'd put up with the Harvester Ants if he'd keep visiting. He just looked at me with those eyes. But I think I was forgiven because we have seen him several times since this first visit and he lets all my kids hold him and make kissy faces at him!

It's Feeding Time at Cotton-Top Hills!

Just a few of the critters that need feeding around here...

Who's that knocking at my door?

I have a new friend. He usually drops by in the morning. The first time he knocked at my door I was alone, having just put Little One down for a nap. Living out where we do we don't get many unexpected visitors so I must admit I was a little alarmed the first time he showed up. But now as we've gotten to know each other, I enjoy his visits. In fact, he always puts a smile on my face. Even though our front door is mostly glass I don't have to look out to know he has come for a visit. His knock identifies him immediately. Tap, Tap...tap, tap, tap. It's his secret knock. I call him George. Now, I'm not sure if that is his given name, because he's never told me that. But I call him George because he's sort of a curious fellow and reminds me a lot of the little monkey that goes by that name. He's a big help around the yard. He gets rid of any snakes that may wander too close to the house and his mere presence scares away any mice that may be lurking around. I know you may be wondering what my husband thinks about my daytime visitor. Don't worry, he's not jealous of George at all. In fact, the first time he came to visit I immediately got on the phone to tell him about my unexpected visitor. Even though George can be shy I was able to snap this picture of him to share with you.

Greater Roadrunner (a.k.a. George)

Cotton-Top Hills

Cotton-Top Family

(not the greatest picture)

Okay, I know we only have two acres but we always feel the need to name things around here so we've dubbed our new homestead Cotton-Top Hills. If you haven't visited you may be doubtful about our hills here in the panhandle, but I promise you we do actually have some. We were lucky enough to find our house nestled amongst some of the canyons instead of the flat plains that mostly dominate this area. Hence, our hills. Now for Cotton-Top...this is actually a type of quail also known as blue-scale quail. Their nickname comes from the little fro fro on top of their heads that must look like a piece of cotton to whoever named it.

To be fair we have lots of wildlife here. We could have named the place Coyote Canyon, Mule Deer Trails, Roadrunner Crossing, Bobwhite Lookout. And as not to discriminate against the undesirables....Rattlesnake Bluff, Rat Mounds, etc. But as luck would have it one day in late spring I looked out our upstairs window to find three separate Cotton-Top families pecking about our side yard. Our hills were alive with these quail with one family having twelve little ones. So I decided on the name that morning.

I tend to go overboard with the naming and have already dreamt up a Cotton-Top logo to display on all our wares that someday we will be gifting to family and friends. I know you can't wait to taste our Mesquite Bean Jelly!! And of course we need a sign at the end of our driveway welcoming visitors and letting them know they have entered our property and that it has a name. Hubby nods his head and thinks it's all a great idea and then quickly gets to work on some pressing project leaving me to dream up my next great idea:)