Snakes and Frogs and Their Relatives [ 219 



LIZARDS OF THE SOUTHWEST 



Children who live in the southwestern United States, and 

 others whose vacation travels take them over some of the arid 

 stretches of this region, may encounter a variety of lizards. There 

 is the whiptail or race runner, a striped species that is active all 

 day in open areas; the collared lizard, a scrappy fighter that has 

 been known to attack rattlesnakes; the big chuckwalla, which 

 may grow as long as sixteen inches; and the banded gecko, a 

 lizard active chiefly at night. 



THE RESOURCEFUL FENCE LIZARD 



This lizard, about six inches long, has a very lengthy tail. If a pursuer grasps the 

 tail the lizard is able to shed it, later growing a new one to replace the one it 

 lost. In some lizards the tail is four or five times the length of the rest of the body! 



The only poisonous lizard found in the United States is the 

 Gila monster a colorful figure strongly marbled with coal black 

 and some other marking, often pink, yellow, or white. Its stout 

 body may grow to a length of twenty inches, although eighteen 

 inches is pretty much the average. Its bite can quickly kill a 

 small mammal and seriously affect a human being. 



Lizards are able to grow a new tail when they have lost the 



