Montana’s Great Short-Horned Lizard is a Bioblitz Rock Star

Its total elusiveness seems to add to its mystique. Even a search party came up empty.

Sure, they don't pack the legendary punch of Bigfoot or Chupacabra, but at least it is for certain that these little creatures do exist in Montana. But, where the heck are they?

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks tells us that, true to their nature, the horny toads weren’t revealing themselves during a Lizard Bioblitz field trip outside of Miles City a few weeks ago. But that didn’t seem to dampen the enthusiasm of the nearly 20 people who came out to look for greater short-horned lizards at Pumpkin Creek Ranch Recreation Area.

The adoring fans of the toad seemed to enjoy just being outside at this beautiful site, getting in a hike and some scenery while looking under rocky outcrops and along the trail for Montana's hide-and-go-seek champion. A few kids came away with armfuls of tiny bones from other exotic creatures and some very cool lizard stickers.

The event was part of a statewide short-horned lizard "bioblitz," a concentrated communal effort to find and identify as many species of plants, animals and other organisms within a specific area and period of time. It involved Montana FWP and partner agencies that ran from June 21 to 28.

A native species to Montana, the great short-horned lizard is a species of concern because of lack of data on its populations and distribution. Pumpkin Creek missed the rainstorm that hammered other areas, but weather may still have played some role in the lizard’s no-show status. It was a bit windy and humid there as systems moved through the region, and biologist say the lizards may have felt shifts in the weather and stayed in hiding.

You don’t have to attend an FWP event to help us obtain important data, though. If you see a lizard, simply record the location, get GPS coordinates if possible, and note the date, number observed and take a photo with something in the picture for scale, like perhaps a Bigfoot or Chupacabra.