Here is a creature feature from Arizona.
Look at this giant colorful lizard slowly lumbering across the ground. This is the Gila Monster Latin name Heloderma suspectum.
They are called Gila Monsters because they live in the Gila River basin of Southwest Arizona and New Mexico. The monster of their name refers to their size and poison...
These are one of the few poisonous lizards in the world with actual venom glands. The only other poisonous lizard nearby is called the Mexican Beaded Lizard which is basically just a larger version of the Gila Monster farther south in Mexico.
Look how docile and placid this lizard looks basking in the sun. It knows it can get away with a peaceful life like this because all other animals (except for maybe humans) know inherently that their bright color pattern and large jaws can deliver the most painful bite and venom of any vertebrate.
These lizards are very slow and clumsy and survive by lumbering into rabbit dens, tortoise nests and bird nests to eat eggs or baby rodents. There is nothing a large bird can do when a Gila Monster discovers their nest. They are protected by these bony tough scales and they will deliver a super painful bite if they are bothered.
This particular lizard was discovered in the middle of a road as a hatchling by a relative of mine. After carefully removing him from the road via a snake handling tool he was given to a wildlife rehabber and kept as an animal advocate for classroom learning purposes. Now he is used to being handled but super heavy gloves need to be worn because their sharp teeth can penetrate most gloves.
They will warn you if you get too near them by hissing at you and threatening to bite. Though they are venomous it is not usually deadly, the venom is more to inflict massive pain as it is described as lava running through your veins and they grind their sharp teeth for up to 15 minutes to deliver the venom. They won't let go either especially if you lift them up off the ground. The best way to get them to release is to splash water on them, unfortunately they live in the desert so finding water to splash on one would be unlikely. Most people who get bitten faint, vomit and have a serious drop in blood pressure. So they definitely do not make good pets though they are a highly smuggled animal and it is illegal to keep them as pets without a state license.
The teeth are hidden under gums, but once they bite the teeth come out of their gums and inflict the venom. I forget what their bite pressure is but it is very high so you can't pluck them off of you. You would have to be very stupid to get bitten by one though. Most people who get bitten are trying to catch them or think they are just a big friendly looking lizard. Another note about their venom, it has peptids in it that are used in type-2 diabetes medication under the brand name Byetta. I have no idea how they extract the venom but they probably just have the Gila monsters Bite something soft then extract enough venom to isolate the peptids to manufacture it in a lab.
As we were visiting our old Gila Monster friend a random velvet ant strolled by. This is a flightless wasp with one of the most painful stings ever recorded. They are nicknamed cow killers. Beware the deserts of Arizona, they are full of poisonous, stinging, biting, and mean critters lol.
Thanks for looking :-) beware the Gila Monsters