Colorado man dies after being bitten by one of his pet Gila monsters. Christopher Ward, 34, was taken to a hospital shortly after the incident on February 12 and died a few days later.
These venomous reptiles live in parts of the southwestern United States and neighboring areas of Mexico. Their bites can cause intense pain and cause their victims to faint, but are usually not fatal. It would be a rare death from the bite of one of these desert lizards, if the creature's venom turns out to have been the cause.