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I am not surprised that the non-native imported fireant is one of the primary reasons for the decline in harvester ants, and therefore, horned toads.
I fought fireants on all fronts, and it felt like a losing battle at times. They're just worthless vicious survivors, and it's going to be very difficult to get rid of them in order to have the other populations increase.
This is definitely the answer - the fire ants kill off the other ants that serve has the horned toads' food supply.
This is definitely the answer - the fire ants kill off the other ants that serve has the horned toads' food supply.
That might be a factor in some very limited areas, but so far the range of fire ants in New Mexico is still pretty minimal. Fire ants have been documented in Albuquerque and Las Cruces, but only in association with artificially watered lawns. Based on information from the US Department of Agriculture, only the Las Cruces population seems to be well-established. Most of New Mexico remains both too cold and too dry for fire ants to survive. The authors of a scientific article on New Mexico ants I found online stated very confidently that fire ants were unlikely to ever establish themselves across most of the state.
Since well-watered lawns in urban areas are typically the last place you'd ever expect to find a lot of horned toads, I don't think fire ants can be blamed if they're scarcer than they used to be.
I've seen a few babies this summer in the area that I hike in the forest where I live. But as with everyone else, when I was a kid they were hard to not walk on they were so plentiful, and because they like open places, like roads and pathways, that's where they hung out. There aren't that many harvester ants in my area, but there are plenty of other ants that live under rocks and dead trees.
In the 21+ years of living here in retirement, there have been several summers when I've seen more horned toads than others. And many summers I've rarely seen any. Haven't a clue why the appearances go in cycles. The past few weeks I've been seeing a few again. Those I see appear plenty healthy.
I don't believe the real deal, invasive red imported fire ants have made their way to Pie Town yet - it is too cold and too dry to support them. New Mexico has plenty of similarly-colored ants with painful bites in their own right, including some in the same genus as the red imported fire ant, but they do not exhibit the aggression, swarming behavior, and other behaviors that make the red imported fire ant so detrimental.
Texas horned lizard populations are still heavy over here on the Texas South Plains north of Lubbock. I almost stepped on an old fat fellow just walking out to my barn this morning. Every year I have to try and dodge them while shredding pastures. Not this year though since it's been so dry and I haven't had to mow anything.
Fire ants around Lubbock used to be very spotty and only where folks have brought firewood back from eastern Texas. There are no fire ants on my farm yet. (Insert the "Knock-on-Wood" emoticon here.)
I remember when I was a kid we use to be able to find horned toads by the dozens. I don't often see them anymore. I think the last one I saw was about 3 years ago out near Encino If I remember correctly.
Did the 20-30 acre ranchette kill off the toads? Were did they go? I still get out all over NM and seems like I would see them more often. Just curious?
I've heard there are literally thousands of them located about 4 miles from Downtown Ft. Worth,Texas near Texas Christian University.
They're still around. We call them grandpa. We used to pick them up as kids and hold them to our hearts, praying for a long life and happiness. There's a mountain in NM (not gonna say which) where I always find them, small, big, and all sizes in between. They are very much a living good luck charm and should not be harmed.
I find them munching on ants and drinking up water from their straws. They have straws between their toes, so they'll sit in a puddle and slurp up. You hear them smacking their lips after each gulp.
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