Ownership of Gila monsters legal in most states

A Colorado man who died after getting bitten by a Gila monster was hardly alone in having the gnarly looking lizard for a pet.

They’re legal to own in most states, easily found through breeders and at reptile shows, and widely regarded for their striking color patterns and typically easygoing personality.

But while 34-year-old Christopher Ward’s death Friday might have been the first from a Gila monster in the U.S. in almost a century, the creature’s bite is wellknown to be excruciating — and venomous. For that reason, some question the wisdom of keeping the species as pets.

“It’s like getting your hand slammed, caught in a car door,” Arizona State University professor Dale Denardo said of the lizard’s bite. “Even that initial pain is extended for an hour. Then you get the typical days of soreness, throbbing pain. It’s much worse than any bee, wasp or scorpion.”

Minutes after Ward’s pet lizard named Winston bit down on his hand without letting go, Ward was vomiting and couldn’t breathe, said a report by an animal control officer who interviewed his girlfriend.

He was put on life support but died less than four days later.

Ward’s girlfriend told animal control they bought Winston at a reptile exhibition in Denver in October and another Gila monster named Potato from a breeder in Arizona in November. She relinquished the lizards to be taken to a South Dakota reptile sanctuary.

Before Ward, the last person to die of a Gila monster bite, around 1930, might have had cirrhosis of the liver, Denardo said. A yet-to-bereleased autopsy report may show if venom from Ward’s lizard killed him outright or whether an underlying condition was a factor.