The Colorado man who died after being bitten by a lizard monster was not alone in keeping the vicious-looking lizard as a pet.
Legal to keep in most states, they are easy to find at breeders and reptile shows, and are widely known for their striking color patterns and typically friendly personalities.
But while 34-year-old Christopher Ward’s death on Friday may have been the first in nearly a century in the United States to be caused by a Gila monster, the monster’s bite is excruciating and poisonous. well known. Therefore, some people question the wisdom of keeping this species as a pet.
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“It’s like getting your hand stuck in a car door and getting hit,” said Dale DeNardo, a professor at Arizona State University. “Even the initial pain is prolonged for an hour. Then the typical several-day period of pain, throbbing pain begins. This is much worse than any wasp, wasp, or scorpion.”
Denardo, an American monster enthusiast who has studied reptiles for decades, said she wouldn’t keep a reptile in her home even if she did.
Within minutes of Ward’s pet lizard, Winston, biting his hand without letting go, Ward began vomiting, according to a report from an animal control officer who interviewed Ward’s girlfriend. He said he couldn’t breathe.
The American Doctorian monster is seen at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle on December 14, 2018. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
He was placed on life support, but did not survive and died less than four days after being bitten.
Ward’s girlfriend told animal control that he bought Winston at a reptile show in Denver in October and another dogma monster named Potato in November from a breeder in Arizona. . After being bitten, she released the lizard, which was taken to a reptile sanctuary in South Dakota.
In Colorado, you need a permit to keep a dolphin (pronounced spatula) monster. But such permits are only issued to zoo-type facilities, and Ward did not appear to have a permit to keep the lizards, said Colorado Parks and Wildlife Department spokeswoman Kara.・Mr. Van Hoose said.
Winston may have escaped state enforcement by being sold at reptile shows. Colorado Department of Natural Resources personnel may attend shows to ensure illegal animals are not offered for sale.
“It happens sometimes,” Van Hoose said. “We confiscated some from them.”
Online, breeders are selling newly hatched American dog bears in the fall for upwards of $1,200. While some people may capture wild dog bears to keep as pets, DeNardo said the loss of roads and habitat due to housing construction is the reptile’s biggest threat.
The lizard’s natural habitat extends from northern Mexico across Arizona and into parts of California, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. Although there are concerns about declining populations, perhaps down to a few thousand individuals in the wild, the monster dolphin is not protected as an endangered or endangered species.
States like Maine and Kentucky prohibit keeping Gila monsters as pets, while states like Montana don’t even require a permit. Many states fall somewhere in between, requiring permits to own animals.
One such permit holder is the Colorado Gators. Colorado Gators is a reptile sanctuary and tourist attraction located not far from Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in rural southern Colorado. The facility, which is fed by naturally warm groundwater, houses alligators and other reptiles (such as the American dogma) that were rescued, confiscated, and abandoned after the death of a pet shop owner.
Owner Jay Young considers himself a Gila Monster fan.
“Of course, only certain people should possess it where it’s legal to possess it,” Young said. “But it’s just adorable. Just look at that little face. It’s definitely one of the cutest lizards out there.”
They feed on small rodent and quail eggs and can live at least 20 years in a small 15- to 20-gallon aquarium, Young said.
In the wild, American dog bears spend up to 95 percent of their time underground to conserve water in hot, dry weather, and come out more often in wet weather, Denardo said.
Measuring up to 22 inches, the American monster travels over an area the size of more than 100 American football fields in search of prey such as bird eggs in nests high in cacti. . To get there, they conserve energy and maintain a slow but steady pace for a lizard.
They are slow, rely on painful venom for defense, and often emit a warning sound before attacking.
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“It’s no coincidence,” Denardo said. “You have to screw them.”
Before Ward, the last person to die from a Gila monster bite around 1930 may have had cirrhosis, DeNardo said. A future autopsy report may reveal whether Ward’s lizard venom completely killed him, or whether underlying conditions such as allergies were a contributing factor.
“I strongly suspect that this case is similar,” Denardo said. “There may have been some underlying cause for this person’s susceptibility.”
