Monday, August 20, 2012

Seen Any Ants?

Toad
by Clancy Gray

Mr. Gray is a High School art teacher in Tulsa,Ok. and a member of the Osage Nation.



Although he named his sculpture 'Toad' I have always heard them call 'horny toads' or 'Horned Toads". Actually they are a lizard if you want to be technical. Their diet is almost exclusively Harvester Ants with a few termites and grasshoppers thrown in. I noticed a few years back that I was seeing less and less of them. Thankfully the wildlife folks also began to take notice. They came to the conclusion that pesticides and insecticides were a large part of the problem. The toads food supply, harvester ants, was getting scarce! Public education and awareness is helping to bring up their numbers along with sightings. Just wouldn't be right to go out in the fields and not see a few Horny Toads running round! Besides, what other critter do you know of that can spit blood from their eyes when it feels threatened!


Red Earth
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8 comments:

  1. TexWisGirlAugust 20, 2012 at 9:14 AM

    i like that very much. like his curled up toes. :)

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  2. RonAugust 20, 2012 at 9:19 AM

    That first picture is cool!!

    We called them horny toads too and I remember as kids we would always see them, even in our yard. I don't think I've seen one in many years.

    Thanks for the education on them Parker. I never knew what they ate or why I wasn't seeing any of them.

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  3. RandyAugust 20, 2012 at 4:01 PM

    We've always know them as Horny Toads.

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  4. KateAugust 20, 2012 at 4:10 PM

    The photographs are wonderful and makes it look pretty sweet...almost. Pesticides are a double edged sword.

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  5. PaulAugust 20, 2012 at 5:50 PM

    Definitely nothing like that lives over here on Canada's West Coast... It's Uuuug-ly! And all this time I thought "Great Horny Toads" was just a saying by "Yosemite Sam". LOL

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  6. Quynh LeAugust 20, 2012 at 6:20 PM

    Never seen this creature before, that would be interested to take picture one of these Horny Toads in wild. By the way how do you get that awesome effect on the first picture?

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  7. parkerAugust 21, 2012 at 3:04 AM

    'Q', There is a tool on Picasa they call -Focal Zoom- that lets you control the size of the focal point and the amount of the zoominess, how hard you wish the edges to be along with the ability to blend it all together. Fairly simple really and only takes a minute or so!

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    Replies
    1. RonAugust 21, 2012 at 3:18 AM

      "zoominess"?? Now you're starting to talk like Tex, making up your own words! LOL

      Delete

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