Posted on 02/24/2024 6:21:30 AM PST by Red Badger
A Colorado man died after being bitten by his pet Gila monster -- which have been known to deliver a fatal amount of venom. That's why Wyoming exotic pet dealers say that Gila monsters are usually best left in the wild.
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If a pet Gila monster is on your wish list, you should probably reconsider, some Wyoming pet dealers said.
Particularly in light of a Lakewood, Colorado man dying this month after he was bitten by one of his two pet Gila monsters. Keeping those critters in captivity isn’t a good idea, Andrew Jenkinson of Gillette and Kiley Troia of Riverton told Cowboy State Daily.
“I don’t know how well you can even tame down a Gila monster. If they’re anything like monitors (monitor lizards), then no. You can’t tame down monitors,” said Jenkinson, who owns Mr. Critters, a pet store in Gillette.
Troia, who owns Critters, Scales & Tails, a pet store in Riverton, is also against selling and keeping Gila monsters.
“I think some animals just shouldn’t be kept as pets,” she said.
Fatal Bite?
Lakewood resident Christopher Ward, 34, had two pet Gila monsters, named “Winston” and “Potato,” according to news reports.
He was taken to a local hospital immediately after Winston bit him on Feb. 12. He was placed on life support but died on Feb. 16. His girlfriend surrendered both of the Gila monsters to Lakewood animal control.
The Jefferson County, Colorado coroner’s office has not yet officially ruled the bite as the sole cause of Ward’s death, according to reports, but Gila monster venom is known to be fatally toxic.
Gila monsters are a species of lizard native to the Southwestern United States and the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. They can grow up to about 22 inches in length and are the only venomous lizard species native to the United States.
Know What You’re Getting Into
Jenkinson and Troia say they don’t know of anybody in Wyoming trying to keep Gila monsters as pets.
But there are some who keep potentially dangerous critters, such as rattlesnakes, Jenkinson said.
Rattlers are fascinating, but people absolutely must know what they’re doing to keep them in captivity, he said.
“The first thing you’ve got to do is get in line with state, federal and local laws. Here in Gillette, you can’t keep anything venomous,” Jenkinson said.
And people should do their research and know the needs, habits, and potential dangers of owning any exotic pets, he added.
Troia said that in general, Wyoming regulations are relatively loose regarding what animals can be kept in captivity. And she’s seen too many instances of people trying to go beyond the usual dog or cat pet options, but then regretting it.
“We get surrenders here at the shop all the time, because people get different animals, but those people don’t realize what they’re getting into,” she said. “We get people surrendering snakes, lizards, Guinea pigs, ferrets and rats.”
Unusual critters, such as boa constrictor snakes, have an enthusiastic customer base in Wyoming, but they’re not a good option for novice pet owners, she added.
In addition to human safety concerns, Jenkinson said he doesn’t like to see novices try to take on exotic pets, because it can frequently end badly for the animals.
There’s a wealth of knowledge available, and experts to consult before taking the dive into exotic animal ownership, he said.
“As long as the person is responsible about it, I don’t have huge issues with it,” he said.
But owning Gila monsters is probably a bridge too far for anybody, he added.
“Some species should just be left in the wild, to live out their lives in the wild,” he said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
Should have chosen a tame mamba.
The problem is that our government and do-gooders ALWAYS go too far. Two examples:
When I first became a professional firefighter not many houses in our jurisdiction did not have a smoke detector. Our department put a lot of effort into encouraging people to install smoke detectors, even giving them away. My wife and I just sold a house that was originally built in 1900. To make it legal in our state we were required to install 14 smoke and CO detectors. We have detectors everywhere; it is wasteful and counterproductive. In new construction all of these units have to be expensive hard-wired units whose planning, purchase, installation and inspection add thousands of $dollars to the price of a new home.
20 years ago, my wife was delayed by a slow down on her way home. A squirrel had been hit by a car and was flopping around in the road. People were stopped and looking at it, while other looky-loos tried to figure out what was going on as they slowly drove by. My wife pulled over on the shoulder, found my firefighter protective clothing in the trunk, put on my leather gloves, picked the squirrel up and carefully wrapped it my nomex hood. All the while others were yelling at her not to go near the squirrel, that it would bite her and give her rabies, and that it was ILLEGAL to help a squirrel and they were going to report her. That is what it is like here in liberal land.
She took the squirrel home, put it in a doggie carrier, then called the “wilderness vet”. She was told by a very authoritative person on the phone that she was illegally harboring a dangerous wild animal and that she could face both fines and jail time and that she was required by law to surrender the squirrel to them so they could euthanize it. My wife hung up.
It took about 3 months for the squirrel to recover from its injuries and then we turned it loose from our house which is in a wilderness area. It was recognizable because it's tail had been damaged in the accident. We put food and water out for it, so she hung around in the tall firs surrounding our house for the next couple years.
She was never particularly appreciative of our efforts, but she did chatter loudly from the trees when we went out on the back porch. I don't think it should be ILLEGAL to help an injured animal even if other do not feel that it is a good idea. In cases like this legislating one size fits all solutions is a bunch of nonsense.
I have kicked a few off the trail with my boot and they didnt really strike me as being super fast or aggressive. Im not sure I was even acknowledged by them. How do you get bit by one without wanting to? More like a poisonous turtle than a Komodo Dragon.
I was happy with my Komodo dragon purchase until I saw how much I paid for undercoating and rustproofing.
Like that comedian says: “You can’t fix stupid”.
”Ya, you don’t need that....”
There’s a FB page for Gila Monster and Mexican Beaded Lizard owners.
Do not taunt Happy Gila Monster
Sounds like you and your childhood friends were real-life Jonny Quest kids!
And they go right for the throat....
I did see one in Ajo Az in the wild. I watched it for a while and I was amazed at how slow it was.
I can’t figure out how they can catch anything to eat. Well maybe that is why they are so rare. I spent years in the desert and only can across one.
I did love Johnny Quest as a kid!
I am glad they didn’t have video games when I was a kid. I would have been completely addicted to them.
lol
The closely related Mexican Beaded lizard is also poisonous. And new research indicates Komodo Dragons' saliva contains toxin.
When I lived in a certain southern state I'd go the Renaissance Festival every year; one of the things I enjoyed most was the falconry demonstration that was conducted by a lady and her husband who were licensed falconers and ran a bird rescue. They gave a great presentation and a lot of the birds in their show had some really cool rescue stories behind them, and every year I'd grab a flyer/program from their demonstration.
One day while I was out walking my dog, I saw a cat that was toying with something on the ground beneath a tree and a male cardinal was dive bombing it, trying to either distract the cat or get it to leave. As we approached the cat saw my dog (who was straining at the leash as he was a rescue that was very cat aggressive) and took off. As we got close, I saw it was a baby cardinal that had fallen from the nest and had a broken wing. It was still alive, but the nest was way too high for me to even think about putting it back...so I took it home and made a little nest for it.
I called the # for the bird rescue on the falcon lady's flyer, and was asking her what my best course of action was, and she cited the law and told me it would be illegal to try to rescue the bird.
I asked, if hypothetically, it was legal, what the best way to rescue a small bird would be. By the tone of her voice, I could tell she thought the law was ridiculous as well, and so we carried out the whole conversation interspersing the word, "hypothetically," once or twice in just about every sentence. We spoke for about hale an hour. She told me unfortunately the chances for the hypothetical bird weren't good, but told me what to try and feed it, the best temperature range etc. I told her that a hypothetical person in that situation would be really grateful for her time and her advice, and she said that she would hypothetically have been very glad to have helped :-)
First, were you able to find a good solution to the baby bird's dilemma, or did you just keep it comfortable until it passed away? The squirrel that my wife and I gave shelter to until it got better was an adult. She was a funny little creature. She never became tame or acted like she was fond of us, although for two years she jealously guarded the food that we put out for her on our back porch. She chattered like crazy at anyone or any animal it felt was invading her space, and chased off other squirrels and small animals.
I am glad that you found someone in a southern state who was actually helpful when you tried to do the right thing by called in to the bird rescue place. I have no idea what the motivation of the person was from the “wilderness vet” who threatened my wife with legal action if my wife didn't bring the injured squirrel in to be euthanized. There is a big difference in the attitudes of those you are likely to reach on the phone when you are living in a red state vs living in a blue state. And our “wilderness vet” receives money from the state so they might have to behave like jerks when they are called on the phone.
In the area where we live the proportion of people who have
They are so slow, that they do not catch anything to eat. They eat immovable food, mostly nesting bird eggs. But because they are moving slow and are cold blooded, they do not eat too much!
Also, because they are moving slow, they posses no danger to responsible humans. All bites are caused by drunken idiots who wants to pet them.
Not at all!
They only bite the hand which tries to pet them!
The “petter” usually loses that hand to amputation, but there was only one cause of death reported so far. This will be the second!
They are even cases of people trying to kiss the Monster!
That may result in face disfiguration injuries!
I had an extra dog bowl I used for traveling, and I used to do a lot of backpacking so I always saved my dryer lint for fire starter, and I had made it a nice, cozy comfortable nest. I didn't live in the best area at the time, and so I had a small smoker/grill I kept inside my front door when not in use, and I put the nest in there. I was also very touched by the fact that my shepherd who originally scared the cat away laid on the floor by the base of the grill as though to protect her for those 3-4 days. Well, I like to think he was protecting her, but in reality, he was probably laying in wait for the cat to come back ;-)
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