Texas Horned Lizard: a two-minute wildlife lesson

Lizards · day 4 of 7

Five facts

1. The Texas horned lizard can squirt a stream of blood from the corners of its eyes, as far as 1.5 m.
2. The blood carries a chemical that tastes foul to dog-family hunters such as wolves, coyotes and pet dogs.
3. Harvester ants are about 70 percent of its diet. One lizard can gulp 30 to over 100 ants a day.
4. A female lays one clutch a year, about 14 to 37 eggs. They develop inside her for roughly 44 days before she buries them in a burrow.
5. It lives from sea level on Gulf-coast barrier islands up to about 1,830 meters elevation.

The quiz

1. What can the Texas horned lizard shoot from its eyes?

• A cloud of dust
• A stream of blood (correct)
• A stream of water
• A sticky web

It fires a stream of blood from the corners of its eyes.

2. What makes the blood put off dogs and coyotes?

• A loud noise
• A bright colour
• A strong flower scent
• A foul-tasting chemical (correct)

The blood is mixed with a foul-tasting chemical.

3. What makes up about 70 percent of its diet?

• Harvester ants (correct)
• Beetles
• Spiders
• Grasshoppers

Harvester ants are about 70 percent of its diet.

4. Where do the eggs go after developing inside the mother?

• Into a tree hole
• Onto a rock
• Into a burrow (correct)
• Into a pond

The eggs are deposited in a burrow after about 44 days.

5. Where is the Texas horned lizard found at sea level?

• Desert canyons
• Pine forests
• Gulf-coast barrier islands (correct)
• River deltas in Asia

It lives on Gulf-coast barrier islands at sea level.

More about the Texas Horned Lizard

Same week

All lessons

Nature documentaries