TEMPLE, Texas — As weather starts to warm, Texas spiny lizards are literally raining down on Central Texans!
More home owners are finding the creatures on walks and even in their backyards. It's become a big talker across social media.
This conversation all started when Temple home owner, Brenda Farmer, was taking her dog on a walk. On her way back home, she noticed a large reptile close to the curb.
"I picked him up," Farmer said. "I stuck him in my jacket and brought it home. It was pretty cool looking."
Farmer had no clue what she was picking up. She assumed the reptile fell out of a tree because of the cold weather. She says the critter wasn't moving much.
"I wasn't scared of it or anything," Farmer added. "I was a little concerned whether it would bite me because it is kind of big. We posted it on Facebook and got a lot of responses."
That's when dozens of Central Texans had similar experiences and questions about what the creature could be.
William Franklin, an 8th grade science teacher at Bonham Middle School, used to run a small reptile rescue with his wife.
He confirmed the creature was a Texas spiny lizard. They usually come out early to mid March as weather warms up.
"Your Texas spiny lizard will live in places with lots of foliage, leaf litter around trees," Franklin said. "If you are in your backyard, and you hear this little bit of rustling or you just see something scurry across the patio, odds are it's going to be a Texas spiny lizard."
The lizard is quite large at 11 inches long.
"The size of them makes them stand out and also the way that their scales form," Franklin said. "It looks like a bunch of spines going back. They often get misidentified for a Texas horny toad."
They blend in easily with trees too. Franklin says they are nothing to be afraid of.
"If you do see one, just calmly watch it for a little bit," he added. "Occasionally, you'll see them do little push-ups too. That's them trying to call for a mate or establish dominance."
They are great for the environment because they help keep the insect population down.
"If you see him don't kill them," Franklin said. "They're there for a reason."
Farmer agrees and is going to continue to keep the lizard in her backyard.
"It's a good creature to have eats bedbugs, mosquitoes and beetles pill bugs just all the bugs you don't want in your garden," Farmer said.
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