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| About Gila Monster, North America Native Venomous Lizard |
About Gila Monster, North America Native Venomous Lizard. Gila Monster or in the scientific language Heloderma suspectum is the name for a type of lizard that is easily recognized by looking at its yellow and black skin.
About Gila Monster, North America Native Venomous Lizard
The name Gila for this lizard itself is given because this lizard was once found in the Gila River area, Arizona, United States. Gila Monsters can only be found in North America, from the southwestern region of the United States to northern Mexico to be precise.
The main habitats of the Gila Monsters themselves are areas of grassland and scrub, but they can also be found around rivers with rocky banks. Not without reason Gila Monsters love this habitat.
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| About Gila Monster, North America Native Venomous Lizard |
Gila Monsters need natural, moist burrows or crevices to rest when Gila Monsters aren't actively involved. Even if they couldn't find a suitable burrow for their resting place, Gila Monsters could also dig their own burrows in the sandy ground.
Hunters who Depend on Changes in Temperature
Gila Monsters are carnivores which means they live on meat. The Gila Monsters' diet consists of small animals such as little rabbits, mice, squirrels, lizards, birds and eggs.
When hunting, the Gila Monster makes use of its keen sense of smell and hearing to detect the presence of its prey.
When it finds its would-be food hidden in the ground like buried eggs, the Gila Monster can use its powerful head and forelegs to dig.
Besides being able to forage in the ground, this Gila Monster is also able to climb cactus trees and ordinary trees to find food between the shoots.
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| About Gila Monster, North America Native Venomous Lizard |
Gila Monsters can live on only 5 to 10 meals a year. But once a meal, the Gila Monster could consume so much food that the total food weight consumed could reach one-third of its body weight.
If you have eaten enough, the tail will start to enlarge due to the food reserves that have accumulated there. The leftover food on the tail was what the Gila Monsters used when they weren't eating.
With this technique, Gila Monsters can survive when food in the area is not abundant, for example during the dry season and winter.
Gila Monsters are diurnal animals which means they are more active when the sun is shining. However, if the ambient temperature is too high for example during the day in summer.
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| About Gila Monster, North America Native Venomous Lizard |
They will temporarily stop their activities considering that as a cold blooded animal, the body temperature of the Gila Monster is very dependent on the ambient temperature and body temperature. too high a temperature can endanger his life.
In certain conditions like summer, Gila Monsters can also go hunting at night. It so happens that in summer, the temperature at night tends to be warmer than other seasons.
Already Acting Independently Since Hatchery
The Gila Monster breeding season runs from May to June. During this period, the male Gila Monster will actively stick out its tongue to detect any trace of the smell of hormones left by the female on the ground.
After the male finds the female, the male will rub his chin against the female's back as a sign of invitation to mate with the female.
If the female refuses, then the female will try to bite the male's back. However, if the female accepts the male's invitation to mate, the female will raise her tail.
Gila Monster Videos
The male will then place his tail under the female's tail and begin channeling the sperm into the female genital opening where this sperm distribution activity can last up to an hour or more.
Mated Female Gila Monsters will start looking for holes to spawn. Gila Monster spawn time usually runs from July to August - roughly a month after their first mating.
The number of eggs that the Gila Monsters produced could be up to 12, but usually the number of eggs that was released was only half.
After all the eggs are laid out, the next thing the female Gila Monster will do is cover the egg's burrow with sand, then leave it.
Gila Monster eggs take up to 9 months to hatch while the newly hatched chicks reach 16 cm in length. The newly hatched chicks have to find their own food, which over time their bodies will continue to grow.
When they reach the age of 3 to 5 years, the Gila Monster reaches sexual maturity and is able to marry. Gila Monsters are known to live to a maximum age of 20 years with a maximum body length of 60 centimeters.
Animals That Humans Are Feared And Wanted
Gila Monsters have long had a frightening reputation among humans. One of the local myths that is widely believed is that the Gila Monster is very dangerous to humans because it can spit out its poison from a distance.
Its size is rather large and its striking color also makes ordinary people afraid when they see this lizard. As a result, these Gila Monsters are often killed by humans who are afraid of their appearance.
The increasing number of settlements built by humans who began to penetrate the wild habitat of the Gila Monsters also made more and more Gila Monsters being killed by humans.
Now, let's see if the Gila Monster is as terrifying as it is in the minds of ordinary people. Gila Monster itself is basically poison and even its poison is said to be no less powerful than coral snake venom.
But the poison itself is considered harmless to humans because the monster has to bite humans for a long time to become poisonous can reach a lethal dose for humans.
Not only that, the Gila Monsters' behavior which tends to be passive and slow also makes these lizards almost never blindly attack humans.
In short, Gila Monsters are animals that are not harmful to humans. Apart from being killed for fear, Gila Monsters are also hunted because they can be used as exotic alternative pets and there is a belief that consuming Gila Monster's genitals can increase vitality.
Not only that, the activities of human settlement building and habitat destruction are also considered threats that cannot be underestimated for the survival of these Gila Monsters.
As a precautionary measure, the state government of the wild habitat of these lizards has issued regulations that prohibit all forms of killing, hunting and trading of these lizards.
Hopefully, the regulation from the local government and strict supervision can help protect the existence of this unique animal in the wild.
Despite its dangerous appearance, the Gila Monster is actually a useful animal for humans because it helps to eat rodents which are a pest to humans.
Recently, a series of studies conducted on Gila Monster saliva also succeeded in obtaining a new alternative medicine called exenatide which is beneficial for diabetics.
According to the results of the study, the chemicals contained in the Gila Monster's saliva are said to help you lose weight and control blood sugar levels.
In addition to diabetes drugs, scientists are also studying the possibility of using Gila Monster saliva as a drug to help treat memory loss. By: Ochie
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