Down Goes the Gila!

My Lifer Banded Gila Monster
The tongue was flicking as it slowly moved across the surface of the rock
Washington County, Utah

My Lifer Gila Monster
The tongue was flicking as it slowly moved across the surface of the rock
Washington County, Utah

Down goes the gila in terms of checking it off the reptiles-to-see list as well as down into a private hideaway nearly as quickly as we discovered it on the crawl in Washington County, Utah.

I had wanted to see a Banded Gila Monster for several years prior to my first encounter. I had studied the habitat, behavioral patterns, and even gone to prime habitat during the prime season with friends who are excellent field herpers, but the target remained unobserved until I went on a camping trip with my sons and a grandson a few years ago. We spent some time hiking in the red rock country, mixing a little herping with birding, picking fun places to eat meals and thick shakes, picnicking in the desert, and swimming in some local bodies of water to escape the heat of the day. Sleeping under the stars on the Beaver Dam Slope enabled us to take in beautiful astronomical sights before we closed our eyes and drifted into sleep each night.

Our encounter with the Banded Gila Monster happened one calm morning while we were hiking through an area of the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area. We had split up with hopes of increasing our odd for encountering a gila, so we were a little separated from one another when I rounded a large boulder and spotted the Loch Ness Monster of Utah lizards. It was on a slow crawl just as seen in the initial images of this post. I yelled to the rest of our little group and was able to get everyone a chance to see the lizard right before and just after it made its way down a crevice and under a large boulder.

A few interesting facts about Gila Monsters:

Designated the official state reptile of Utah in 2019

Protected by law, illegal to handle or collect them

Occurs in Southern Washington County, in terms of its Utah range, in desert scrub with rocky terrain

As the largest lizard species in the United States, it reaches up to about 20 inches long with black, orange or yellow/orange-beaded skin

Primarily lives underground but typically surfaces in April and May within Utah

The only venomous lizard in the United States, but they won't bite humans unless threatened and/or harassed

As opportunistic and binge predators which spend 90% of their lives below the surface, they will consume up to 40% of their body weight in a single meal during their feeding periods five to ten times a year to store fat in their tails. Their slow metabolism enables them to go months without eating in harsh desert conditions.