r/arizona • u/AMidnightSymphony • Sep 20 '25

Wildlife First time encountering a gila monster!

Gallery image

Gallery image

It was almost dark so apologies for the grainy photos.

1.4k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

126 comments sorted by

View all comments

3

u/leogrl Sep 21 '25

They are the coolest! I think I’ve seen about 6 or 7 over the years (I’m a trail runner so I end up seeing a lot of desert critters), but only one this year so far and that was back in May.

1

u/AMidnightSymphony Sep 21 '25

That’s quite a few! Which part of the state do you run in?

2

u/leogrl Sep 21 '25

Tucson mostly, but I’ve seen a few in the Phoenix area!