Everyone saw this ugly guy, with markings of various colors, black mixed with pink, orange or yellow skin, like a grain of swollen things attached to it, making people hairy. Yes, it is the poison king of lizards - the Gila poison lizard!
It is the largest poisonous lizard in the United States, speaking of this big man, but it looks large, the weight is basically maintained at 680 grams, the heaviest is only 4.6 pounds, and the length is about 60 centimeters. It looks bulky, has a thick tail, short legs, and walks slowly.
Its appearance is not good, but its poison is not in its skin, nor in its teeth, it has the same violent toxicity as coral snake venom, but secreted in less. Since it is secreted, some friends must have guessed it, yes, its poison comes from its saliva!
Its teeth themselves are not poisonous, is the poisonous lizard by chewing the prey, secrete venom from the salivary glands, and then flow to the teeth, the lizard's natural tooth groove can store a small amount of venom, and then inject the venom into the prey during repeated gnawing, the Gila lizard is the most toxic lizard in the world.
This guy also has a sensitive sense of smell, his nose can smell the food under the ground, they like to eat the eggs of all kinds of animals, sometimes they also eat small birds, reptiles, insects and carrion, of course, this is when there is luck.
When preying, it likes to perch on trees, camouflaging itself like a dead branch, and when the birds fly over to rest, they will launch lightning attacks, bite and swallow it.
Gila lizards eat very richly, and they don't worry about finding food, but in view of their eating habits, they only carry out supplements 3~4 times a year, and they are active on the surface for about 7 days.
The poisonous lizard that only eats 4 times a year, each time must not eat less, yes, it can hold about 35% of its body weight food, eat the eggs of this animal, and eat other cubs, and even eat some small lizards and small mammals that can't beat it.
After all, it spends the rest of its time in the cave after eating, occupying 90% of their lives, but this guy is very long-lived and can live for more than 30 years.
It is different from the small lizards of other countries, and its metabolism is relatively slow, all relying on the fat stored in its fat tail to maintain its life needs.
But this guy is more savage, he occupies other people's caves, and he doesn't build it himself, so he can usually be seen hiding in the caves of other animals.
The location of the cave is generally cactus bushes, bushes, under rocks, sometimes they encounter their own natural enemies, such as indigenous wolves and birds of prey, the cave is a haven for poisonous lizards, and its venom is enough to defend against natural enemies.
In fact, being bitten by a poisonous lizard is also very painful, basically natural enemies are very able to remember after being bitten by it, and they dare not find trouble with it next time.
Its venom is not a blood circulation poison, but a nerve poison, which enters the bloodstream and causes quadriplegia, vomiting, lethargy of prey, and even shock, but is not life-threatening.
Having said that, once this guy bites, he does not let go, the bite force is large enough, continue to gnaw repeatedly, the wound will also be bitten, if bitten, it is easy to cause inflammation and extreme pain, for a healthy adult, the damage is also great.
However, this poisonous lizard is also an endangered species, and it was listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 07, if you encounter it in the United States and Mexico, remember to stay away! Respect life and reverence for nature.