AMERICAN ANIMALS DAY #2

AMERICAN ANIMALS WEEK DAY #2

It’s day two of American Animals week and we drove the RV down to the Southwestern United States to find a really cool reptile! Grab your sunscreen or mud and your sunglasses, because it’s going to be a hot one!

MEET THE GILA MONSTER!

   Range/Habitat: Southwestern US-desert, scrub, rocky outcrops

   Diet: Carnivore: eggs and small animals

   Length: 14-20 “

   Conservation Status: threatened

Fun Facts:

• Gila Monsters are one of two venomous lizards in the whole world (the other is the Guatemalan Beaded Lizard.)
• They brightly colored to ward of predators.
• Gila Monsters have a forked tongue like a snake and it helps them “smell” for prey.
• They inject venom into their prey when they bite. They have special glands in their lower jaw that stores the venom.
• Gila monsters’ tails store fat so they can survive when food is scarce or when they hibernate in the winter.
• Gila monsters have bumpy heads. Those bumps are part of their skull.
• They are not harmful to humans, despite their bad reputation! So Gila Monsters aren’t so monstrous after all!

We think Gila monsters are super cool! These amazing reptiles are protected here! That is good news, because it sure would be a shame if we didn’t have this neat lizard to see!