The Gila Monster - AMAZING Venomous Lizard Encounter! - video Dailymotion

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00:00 (dramatic music)

00:03 I'm Coyote Peterson, and I'm about to go underneath

00:05 a prickly pear cactus to have a face-to-face encounter

00:07 with the only venomous lizard in the United States.

00:10 I absolutely love my job.

00:12 Alright, this is gonna get interesting.

00:14 (dramatic music)

00:28 This morning we're in Tucson, Arizona,

00:30 headed out into the heartland of Gila Monster territory,

00:32 the Sonoran Desert.

00:34 We have been notified by a local rancher

00:36 that one of these rare lizards has taken up residence

00:38 on a hillside of his property.

00:40 This time of day, Gila monsters will emerge

00:42 from their burrows to bask in the morning sun.

00:45 What I'll wanna do is stay hunkered down

00:46 and watch from a distance with binoculars.

00:48 If this elusive reptile does indeed reveal itself,

00:51 I will have an excellent opportunity

00:52 to encounter this notorious desert dweller.

00:55 To do that, I will quickly position myself

00:57 between the lizard and its burrow,

00:58 and carefully capture with my bare hands.

01:00 This will be the best way for me

01:02 to ensure the safety of the animal,

01:03 while I show you some of its most unique qualities.

01:07 I see him.

01:12 He's out.

01:14 And he's underneath the prickly pear cactus,

01:17 which is gonna make it a little more challenging.

01:20 Alright, he's moving a little bit.

01:22 Okay, this is gonna be our opportunity

01:23 to get a chance to go up this remarkable wall.

01:27 (suspenseful music)

01:30 - He's right there, you see him?

01:35 Come back here, look, you can see the carpet.

01:37 You see his tongue poking out?

01:39 Right there, look at his head right in the sunlight.

01:42 What I wanna do is carefully work my way

01:44 behind the lizard, try to create a barrier

01:46 between it and its den.

01:47 Alright, let's turn back towards his den, okay?

01:50 I'm just gonna go.

01:52 (suspenseful music)

01:55 Alright, here we go, there he is.

01:59 Alright, I got the den behind me at this point.

02:02 Now what I'm gonna do is safely and gently

02:06 grab ahold of him right behind his head,

02:08 so that I don't risk getting bit.

02:10 Alright, ready?

02:11 - Yep.

02:13 - Okay, got him.

02:14 Yes, look at him.

02:16 Wow, totally worth the stakeout.

02:21 And that is the Gila monster,

02:24 the only venomous lizard in the United States.

02:27 These reptiles typically are not very aggressive.

02:30 It is not very often that people are bitten

02:31 by Gila monsters, and they say that only a fool

02:34 who mishandles a Gila monster ever receives a bite.

02:37 Now what's really interesting about the tongue

02:39 of the Gila monster is it's forked, just like a snake.

02:42 They run that over what's called the Jacobson's organ

02:44 on the top of the skull on the roof of the mouth.

02:46 And that's like this Gila monster's little personal computer

02:49 that's bringing in all sorts of chemicals

02:51 from potential prey, predators, and its environment.

02:54 Now the venom glands on this lizard are in the lower jaw.

02:58 There's scales on the outside,

02:59 and below that are four venom glands.

03:01 When they actually find something that they're going

03:03 to capture, bite, and envenomate,

03:06 those teeth that they have are not like fangs.

03:09 They're these long, kind of sharp, monster-looking teeth.

03:11 And when they grab onto something, they gnaw and gnaw.

03:14 And that gnawing works the venom into their saliva,

03:18 and then into their victim.

03:19 The scientific name of the Gila monster,

03:21 heloderma, means nail-studded skin.

03:24 This lizard is absolutely built for this desert terrain.

03:29 All these little bumps running down his back

03:31 are actually little osteoderms.

03:33 And osteoderms are little tiny pieces of bone

03:35 covered in scale.

03:37 And this guy pretty much has a bulletproof vest on his back.

03:40 Gila monsters are incredibly intelligent reptiles.

03:43 They will often follow the trail of a mammal

03:45 and go right back to its burrow.

03:47 Now if that mammal has babies in the burrow,

03:49 he's got lunch.

03:50 If it doesn't have any babies,

03:51 they will actually remember where that burrow is at

03:54 and return several times until there's something

03:56 in there to eat.

03:57 And then of course, they have their meal.

03:59 If you're unfortunate enough to be bitten

04:01 by a Gila monster, it's gonna be one of the most

04:03 painful experiences you've ever gone through.

04:05 And the only way to get this reptile off of you

04:07 is to actually submerge it into a bucket of water.

04:10 Once it lets go, remember this is venomous,

04:13 and you're gonna wanna get yourself to the hospital

04:14 as soon as possible.

04:15 The venom's not as potent as a rattlesnake,

04:17 but I'll tell you what.

04:18 It's about as painful as lava coursing through your veins.

04:22 Wow, what an incredible encounter

04:24 with the only venomous lizard that lives

04:25 in the United States.

04:26 One of my favorites.

04:28 But I wanna know what your favorite lizards are.

04:30 Leave me your list in the comments section below.

04:32 I'm Coyote Peterson.

04:34 Be brave.

04:35 Stay wild.

04:36 We'll see you on the next adventure.

04:38 All right, I'm gonna put this guy up in the shade

04:39 so he can cool off back in his burrow,

04:41 and we're gonna go get some ice cream.

04:43 It's scorching out here.

04:48 If you thought that was one wild adventure,

04:50 check out these other animal encounters.

04:52 And don't forget, subscribe to follow me and the crew

04:55 on this season of Breaking Trail.

04:58 This episode of Breaking Trail was brought to you by

05:00 the Buy Power Card from Capital One.

05:02 Every purchase brings you closer to a new Chevrolet,

05:05 Buick, GMC, or Cadillac vehicle.

05:08 (electronic music)

The Gila Monster - AMAZING Venomous Lizard Encounter!

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