Gila Monster Myth

There are many myths about the Gila monster, including that it has poisonous breath; lacks an anal opening; they have to turn upside down to inject venom; and once they bite, they will not loosen their jaw until sundown or it thunders.  The most revered superstition, though, is that the Gila monster’s bite is fatal for humans, which is the myth that has resulted from just a few bits of misinformation:

    

    First, and foremost, the Gila monster’s name is not promising.  Since “monster” is a part of its name, it is instantly looked at as a monster and, therefore, feared.  Since people fear the Gila monster, it was a natural instinct of many people to go out and “kill the monster” for the sake of getting rid of that which scares them.  Unfortunately for the Gila monster, its name does not represent it well because it is actually quite passive, unless threatened.

    The second reason why the myth has arose is due to these “kill the monster” occurrences.  With many people going out to find Gila monsters to kill, there were many people handling or cornering Gila monsters.  Because of this contact, many people were bit by the Gila monster.  Though naturally a passive reptile who runs away from that which threatens it, the Gila monster will warn a would-be attacker if cornered and/or it feels threatened before it bites.  It warns attackers with hissing, opening its mouth wide, and trying to back away.  If all attempts to scare their attacker away fail, then the Gila monster will be quick to bite.  When bitten, a human may experience pain, edema, bleeding, nausea, and even vomiting, but never death.  After being bitten, many people, especially in earlier times, would go to their doctor for a remedy, which leads to the real reason why this myth exists.

    The third reason the myth has even been considered is due to doctor malpractice.  When someone is bitten by a Gila monster, they typically go straight to the doctor for help.  Unfortunately for many, medicine in earlier times was not well developed, and, therefore, did a lot more harm to people than good.  In the case of the Gila monster, a few people in Arizona died after going through “treatments” to try and reverse the effects of the venom or get rid of the venom.  All of the deaths associated with a Gila monster bite, however, have occurred before 1939, and none have been recorded since. 

    One doctor, Dr. Goodfellow, was intrigued by this myth; therefore, he collected several Gila monsters to test the myth.  He coerced a Gila monster into biting him and was bed-ridden for 5 days.  After those 5 days, he completely recovered from the bite, but most important of all, proved that Gila monster bites are not fatal for healthy humans.  In fact, there is recent information identifying components in the Gila monster venom is effective in treating type2 diabetes, which is therefore helping and not hurting.

Here are couple links for some more information on the Gila monster and its associated myths:

http://www.historynet.com/the-gila-monster-had-a-killer-reputation.htm

http://www.desertmuseum.org/books/nhsd_gila.php