At the Austin Herp Society meeting last night our guest speaker was the president of the Horned Lizard Conservation Society. He brought a slide presentation and talked about the various species in the US and how the laws for them are extremely screwed up and their populations are dramaically low.
He went on to talk about how most of the key members of the HLCS are getting up there in years, since the last time Horned Lizards were widely spread and easily found was in the early 70s, the newer people getting involved just don't have the same memories and urge to contribute to the society as a whole. Much work needs to be done, and they sponsor grants and many projects to further our knowledge of the Horned Lizard.
Some species info... there are 13 recognized species of Horned Lizard native to the US. Seven species are oviparous and six are viviparous. They live in a variety of semi-arid environments in most of the SW states. California, Nevada, Utah, Oklahoma, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, with pocket populations in other places as well. Their diet is insectivorous and they are near impossible to keep in captivity. Even the people trained for years on how to care for Horned Lizards in captivity have an incredibly high mortality rate - they just simply do not do well, even when given a 'native' diet. As a defense mechanism against canids, they have an openable valve on the side of their eyes from which they can shoot a stream of blood. An incredible amount for an animal of such a small size. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
Most species are protected by state laws in their appropriate ranges, but not all of them. The Horned Lizard Conservation Society has been trying to get some uniformity in the laws, or even get the animals federally protected since the early 90s, with little success.
I encourage anyone interested in learning more about Horned Lizards, or contributing to the society to join. They have a mailing list, news letters, and various events around the southwest.
Rav
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