Hollywood Sign Expected to Read 'Save the Peak' on Thursday
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Bye, Bye Hollywood Sign... at Least Temporarily [Updated]
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Local biologist Dan Cooper has been looking for the horned lizard in Griffith Park for the better part of three years now. There was a time when spotting them was a usual occurrence--these days, not so much. "Ask anyone over 40 who grew up here, and they'll tell you about catching 'horny toads' in the wash near their house," he explained. "My dad would catch them in North Hollywood along what would become the 170 freeway."
It was in the 1980s when they started to disappear from the area due to development. "We lost a lot of open-country species around town as big box stores and trucking distribution warehouses took up all the vacant lots where you might have once had relict native vegetation, or at least sandy soil for the lizards to hide in," said Cooper, who is working on the Griffith Park Wildlife Management Plan. The thorny looking lizards need to bury themselves in loose sand and have a good ecological relationship with native harvester ants (the big red ones), which have been overrun by the non-native Argentine ants--the ones we usually find in our kitchens.
Although it was a hard find, Cooper kept on hearing from city workers in the park that they occasionally would see the lizard. So it became his personal mission. Finally, the day came a few weeks ago while surveying plants on Cahuenga Peak, he saw one out the corner of his eye. He excitedly grabbed, took a few shots and let it go.
The next day came another sighting, this time with avid hiker and runner Gerry Hans who was on a trail in area directly east of Hollywood sign, above Mulholland Trail. "I was shocked to the point of almost not believing my eyes. I saw him from a pretty good distance," he said, describing how he stood still and quietly switched camera lenses to take the above photos. "Surprisingly, he did cooperate, and I actually was able to watch him for quite a while. He disappeared in a flash, though, as he buried himself under shallow loose dirt, a behavior for which this species is known."
Hans, who happens to be on the Griffith Park Master Plan Working Group, describes the park as "a remarkable place with diverse micro-habitats that produce great biodiversity in both plants and animals." A trail runner for 20 years--he owns a running company--he's now slowed down. "I find hiking with a camera is really gratifying."
The lizard is not on any endangered species lists, but the California Department of Fish & Game consider it as a Species of Special Concern and the U.S. Forest Service puts it in their sensitive category.
"You may not care for a spiny, ugly lizard on a hill you'll never climb," Cooper said when ask why Angelenos should care about their existence and home. "But you can/should appreciate that it's a little, irreplaceable part of an ecosystem that was here long before you were, and which would be that much more degraded by its loss."
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Yep, Horny Toads were common when I was going up in Burbank during the 60's. I always thought they looked like little dinosaurs.
Seeing how poaching is one of the biggest threats faced by the coast horned lizards, publicizing their remaining populations like this may have some serious negative consequences.
Perhaps you should reconsider publishing this story, or at least publishing it with such specific locational information.
I haven't seen any documents about it being threatened by poaching, only development. Have any more info?
I've found that when I speak to biologists, they bring specific locations up if it is a concern early in conversations. Good example are the federal mountain lion traps in the Santa Monica Mountains used for trap-tag-and-release programs. They do not want the locations known to the public for these reasons and when I tag along with them, it will stay secret and won't become some "map of the day" column. :)
This web page is a start for all herp info: http://californiaherps.com/lizards/pages/p.coronatum.html
The "wide exploitation" they briefly mention refers to the fact that they were collected and sold as "curios".
The CA Department of Fish and Game discusses these threats on page 134 of this document:
http://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/nongame/publications/docs/herp_ssc.pdf
I imagine most Griffith Park goers are not interested in collecting these guys. But it takes one unscrupulous herpetologist to really hammer a small, threatened population. But the greater awareness of these species might outweigh the risk.... Any idea what the park management plan specifies?
I just looked at the Griffith Park Draft Wildlife Mangagemtn Plan (http://www.griffithparkwildlife.org/GP_WMP_Draft4.pdf). It doesn't look like they are concerned about direct collecting as a threat to this species. Either they have reason to believe it's not a threat in the park, or they haven't really studied the matter (given the info provided, I assume the latter).
Just to chime in (I actually wrote that management plan w/ a co-author, Paul Mathewson)...the risk to the species from illegal (or legal) collecting is likely pretty small compared to the risk from habitat loss and degradation. This habitat - low scrub on sandy soil - has been reduced to a few pitiful remnants now, like Big Tujunga Wash and the San Gabriel River wash, along with the associated species, not just one (black-tailed jackrabbit, burrowing owl, lesser nighthawk, etc.).
Bear in mind that the referenced report from CDFG was released in '94, which means the data are now about 20 yrs old. And, while californiaherps.com is a great website, it can only summarize range-wide info on any one of the many species it treats. So while collecting may have been thought to be a problem at some point for some populations, the habitat for these animals in L.A. is now either gone, overrun by non-native ants (Argentine ant) which they don't eat, planted with trees (thanks, Earth Day), or invaded by non-native grasses.
As for the Griffith-area sites, these are high ridges that require a very steep, often hot hike - I rarely see people up there, much less potential poachers. And I guess if there were people looking to collect these animals, there are plenty of sites in the desert where you can step out of your car and find them.
- Dan Cooper
That thing is quite the looker.
They look exactly like the ones saw growing up in Texas.
Except this species is only found in California and is much closer to extinction!
Awesome post! You guys are mind readers. I was biking in the Verdugos yesterday in search of coast horned lizards. I came up empty as I have every time I've gone looking for them there since lucking into encountering one on the Beaudry South trail more than six years ago.
Congrats to Cooper for his perseverance paying off.
PS. In my explorings I did find a very cool and cooperative garter snake though:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wildbell/3499473024/
I saw one last month, near La Tuna Canyon by the 210. He was really close so I got a good pic.
http://photosbygene.shutterfly.com/63
I've been called a horney toad by a few girlfriends...