AUSTIN, Texas — If you’ve lived in Texas for a while, you may have run across a tiny lizard with an identity crisis. Most folks call them horned toads, but they are, indeed, horned lizards.
A Texas legend has it that this kind of lizard can live 100 years without food or water, though scientists disagree.
In the small Texas town of Eastland, the belief that the little reptile could survive for years without food or water was put to the test. In 1897, a horned lizard was enclosed in a time capsule in the cornerstone of the old Eastland County Courthouse.
When it came time to open the time capsule 31 years later, the time had come to see if the lizard survived his burial. Hundreds of people gathered to watch as he was slowly pulled from his tomb. To the amazement of all, he was still alive.
They named him Ol' Rip, and he soon became the talk of the nation. Even the New York Times published a Page 1 story about his miraculous survival.
Ol' Rip became so famous that he was brought to the White House in 1928 to meet President Calvin Coolidge. It was reported that Coolidge spent a full minute without saying a word and just stared at Ol' Rip. Ol' Rip stared back. Neither blinked.
The prominent lizard died of pneumonia in 1929. But even today, he is still remembered. If you ever find yourself in Eastland, why not stop by and visit him in his tiny, red satin-lined coffin?
RIP, Rip.