“Horny Toads”
Growing up I remember seeing what we called, ”horny toads”. We could catch them with our hands and they never tried to bite you like the aggressive “alligator lizards”. The “horny toads” looked like miniature prehistoric beasts with horns growing out of their heads and along their flat bodies.
The “horny toads” would hang out in the old garden where there was a large red ant hill. We tried all sorts of things to get rid of those biting red ants but nothing ever seemed to work. The ants must have been there for years and years. I think the “horny toads” were actually Texas Horned Lizards and, of course, they like to eat red harvester ants. No wonder they would hang out there.
Unfortunately, our cats also liked to hang out in the garden and catch the “horny toads”. We would see the bony head skeletons on the porch occasionally. I think those cats eventually killed all those “horny toads” in our area and after a while we never saw them again.
A sad ending to an unusual creature.