Chuckwalla

(Sauromalus obesus)

This grumpy-looking chap was just trying to get a bit of sun when he was interrupted by a bunch of nosy people oohhing and ahhing around him. He was brave enough not to retreat into a rock crevice and stayed out in plain sight where his picture could be taken. When threatened more actively, chuckwallas wedge themselves into rock crevices and inflate the loose skin around their bodies, making it almost impossible for anything to pull them out. He was 14 inches long, which is about average for an adult chuckwalla. Gila monsters, the only poisonous members of our desert lizard family, are about the same size up to 24 inches.

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