Anybody know anything about gila monsters and why the are endangered?

Answer 1

I have long been interested in Gila monsters and have owned several of them in the past.

You can learn a lot about these lizards from the following link:
http://www.geocities.com/rainforest/vines/7951/gilamnstr.html

The link also provides a pretty good rendition of the music from Gloria Gainer's hit song "I Will Survive."

The Gila monster is seriously venomous, but it is not the killer it is sometimes made out to be. Gila bites are serious, but an adult human in good health should not die from a bite (although he might wish he would when the lizard is hanging into his hand!).

The Gila monster is endangered primarily because of habitat destruction and poaching by reptile collectors. *Frankly, it is one of the few reptiles that, IMO, has been seriously affected by collectors. The lizard is protected throughout its range, but it is fairly small and easy to conceal if a ranger comes around when a collector is capturing them.

The Gila monster is a high-priced animal, which usually sells for $1,250-plus. The ones you can buy from legitimate dealers are captive bred, as the old cliche says, "That's what they all say."

I had three Gila monsters, all of which were very "tame" and could be handled (carefully). My dealer, from whom I bought them, called me to offer me another one, which I bought. But this one was not tame at all, at least at first. He would hiss and sna whenever I got near him. He was supposed to have been captive bred, but he came straight out of the wild.

There are a lot of web sites for information about Gila monsters and beaded lizards. You can Google them and learn almost anything you might want to know.

*The eastern indigo snake is one of a number of native snakes whose decline has long been blamed on over-collecting by hobbyists. IMO, collectors have played only a small role in this snake's plight. The real culprit is habitat destruction, primarily caused by developers, particularly here in Florida. At th rate we're going, the only "wildlife" we're going to have left in a few years is going to be the mosquito and other pests.

Answer 2

I don't accept that they are in danger of extinction. That is ridiculous. If that is what they are saying it is only because the environmental lobby wishes to extort money out of Phoenix and adjacent areas or just act like socialists and shut down progress. Their habitat IS being reduced by urban expansion.