Vikram: Priya, you won't believe the gross and amazing thing I just read in my nature magazine! It said there is a lizard that can shoot actual blood out of its own eyes! Is that even real?

Priya: Eww, but yes, it is totally real, Vikram! You are talking about the Texas horned lizard, often called the horny toad. It looks like a little dinosaur, and its defense trick is one of the wildest things in nature.

Vikram: Wow, how does that even work? Why would a lizard want to squirt blood from its face instead of running away?

Priya: Well, running away isn't always easy when you are a slow-moving, spiky lizard. When a coyote, fox, or large bird tries to attack it, the lizard uses a special trick. It squeezes the muscles around its neck to block the blood from flowing back to its heart. This causes blood pressure in its head to rise super high, like a balloon blowing up!

Vikram: Whoa! Does its head pop?

Priya: Haha, no, thankfully! Tiny muscles near the corners of its eyes act like little valves. When the pressure gets high enough, the thin membranes in the corners of its eyes burst open, and it shoots a stream of blood up to five feet away!

Vikram: Five feet? That is longer than my bicycle! But does it hurt the lizard?

Priya: Nope, the lizard heals super fast. But here is the most interesting part: dog-family predators like coyotes hate the taste of the blood. It tastes terrible and has a foul chemical smell, so the predator drops the lizard and runs away shaking its head.

Vikram: That is like having built-in pepper spray in your own eyeballs! Nature is honestly the best superhero comic ever written.

So, What Did We Learn Today?

Priya: Let's review our awesome reptile facts so you can tell your friends, Vikram:

  • The Texas horned lizard can squirt streams of blood up to five feet away from the corners of its eyes when threatened.
  • It works by blocking blood flow in the neck to build up massive pressure in the head, popping tiny eye valves.
  • The blood contains a smelly, foul-tasting chemical that completely grosses out predators like coyotes and dogs, saving the lizard's life.

Vikram: I am definitely going to remember this the next time I play tag. If only I could shoot water out of my eyes when I'm about to get tagged!