Phil Stuup, age 12, of Dallas, Texas, for his question;

Do horn toads really spit blood from their eyes?

Certain toads give off a poison strong enough to harm a dog. But no genuine toad spits blood from his eye. This cute trick is performed by the horned toad who is not really a toad at all. He is not even a member of the great amphibian class to which all true toads belong. The horned toad is a lizard.

This fellow has a flat, toad‑like body and he likes to squat toad fashion on the ground. His various cousins enjoy life on the deserts, prairies and plateaus, Each is colored to match the ground on which he squats. And the horned lizard hates to be disturbed. This is when he pulls his trick of squirting blood from his eye.

It seems that only certain horned lizards know how to squirt blood. Once in a while you pick one up and wham; A small jet of red blood is sprayed onto your clothes. Chances are that he wont squirt again for some time. He may squirt out of either eye or once in a great while from both eyes. A skillful horned lizard can squirt a jet of blood eight feet.