**YOUR WEEKLY ESCAPE**

In today’s Escape: Why gulls steal our food, these giant salamanders are making their annual midnight trek, the verdict on whether vanilla flavoring really comes from beaver butts, and what it would take for humans to communicate with animals.

But first: This grumpy-faced lizard is under threat. Can its adorableness help save it? 
Institutions like the Fort Worth Zoo have successfully bred thousands of adorable baby lizards like this one, returning many of them to Mason Mountain, a protected space in the Texas Hill Country. This year, Fort Worth released a record-breaking number of lizards.

**Jordan Vonderhaar**

As habitat loss and invasive predators decimate the Texas horned lizard population, researchers are banking on statewide fervor to bring them back.
INSIDE THE RESCUE EFFORT

TOP HEADLINES
Herring gulls (Larus argentatus) feeding on discarded chips in Blackpool, United Kingdom. 

Sam Hobson, Nature Picture Library

Why do gulls steal our food? Scientists experimented with French fries to find out.

Giant salamanders are about to take a once-in-a-year midnight trek

Where does vanilla flavoring come from? Probably not beavers.

Will humans and animals ever be able to converse? Here’s what science says.