Biologist to oversee horny toad-friendly road construction

El Paso County is in the process of hiring a biologist to oversee the Aguilera Highway project near Tornillo in order to prevent crews from encroaching on the habitat of threatened wildlife.

Phase two of the project will connect Alameda Avenue to I-10. Crews will need to remove about 130 acres of shrubland habitat

The biologist will train construction crews to leave threatened animals alone. The Texas Department of Agriculture requires it. Of particular interest this time around: the horny toad, aka Texas horned lizard.

“Show them pictures of what a Texas horned lizard looks like, approximate size,” said El Paso Zoo Animal Curator John Kiseda.

Kiseda said he would educate crews about the horny toad’s habits, like coming out from under bushes in late morning — common construction hours. The palm-sized lizards are tough to find, and they can hide themselves in shallow sand.

The horny toad appears to be featured on the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department website, where it’s listed as a threatened species.

“Building roads, just developing human development in general, we’re reducing their capacity to spread or do better than they might be,” Kiseda said.

Back in 2010, during construction of buildings at the Tornillo port of entry, crews were instructed to capture and relocate horny toads to undeveloped areas. But workers had to eliminate nine harvester ant hills — the lizard’s main food source.

“Where they can move them to, or how they’re going to adjust their work schedule,” Kiseda said, “what they’re actually doing to avoid impacting them as much as possible.”

The El Paso County Attorney’s Office said the consultant cost the county about $3,000 in 2010. The county Road and Bridge Department said biological consultants are a standard part of the construction process. The department said workers didn’t find any of the lizards in 2010, and training shouldn’t cause any delays.