This beautiful subadult Banded Gila Monster was just perched along a rocky trail.

The Gila (pronounced Hee-laa) Monster, Heloderma suspectum, is famous for its venomous bite. It is the only venomous lizard in the USA.

I find them appealing both for their appearance and the fact that they are unpredictable in their appearances in areas as different as rocky deserts, mountain slopes, and heavily populated areas. I rarely find them when I’m looking for them. But when I’m not actively looking, I may stumble across one or two.

This is a long lived lizard. A life span of 20 to 30 years is often quoted, but one researcher has been observing and documenting the same Gila Monster in her (he has determined it to be a female) on her winter refuge for more than 40 years. That’s right, 40+ years for that matriarch!

To highlight their unpredictability, on a recent trip to California, Jake and I had failed to find the White rattlesnake we had hoped to photograph and were returning to the car along our different trails. Suddenly Jake gave a holler, saying “come look at this!”

I clambered over to where Jake stood, and there amid the rocks on the trail was a beautiful young adult Gila. And what made this even better than good, it was a Banded Gila, H. s. cinctum, the westernmore subspecies that neither of us had seen in the field before. Cameras were activated and the lizard was immortalized as it crawled slowly to the ground and out of sight.

Elsewhere and at another time a Reticulated Gila, H. s. suspectum, the easternmost subspecies caught our eyes as it crawled, well after darkness had shrouded the Arizona desertland, along a sandy roadside. More pix, happy smiles, and more herping ahead. Life was good.

About the Gila Monster:

Subspecies and Range:
Banded, H. s. cinctum, Western Arizona, Extreme Southwestern Utah, Extreme Southern Nevada, possible isolated pops in Southeastern California
Reticulated, H. s. suspectum, Central and Southern Arizona, Extreme Southwestern New Mexico, Central and Southeastern Sonora
Color/Markings: Usually pink(ish) with black bands or reticulations
Size: Adults 18-22”; Hatchlings ~6”.
Appearance: “Chunky,” short-legged, relatively slow-moving. Tail about half as long as head and body and of variable thickness (the tail is a fat storage organ). This lizard is not capable of autotomizing the tail. Scales beadlike.
Status: Often seen but protected.