Showdown on Arizona Porch: Rattlesnake vs. Gila Monster

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Residents of Scottsdale’s Pinnacle Peak area may be used to seeing desert creatures around their homes, but even life-long Arizonans will say that having a rattlesnake and a gila monster on your front porch at the same time sounds like something out of Southwest science fiction. For one homeowner, though, this Wild West showdown actually did happen, and he got it on video.

“Rattlesnake vs Gila Monster,” wrote Christopher Rutz in an Instagram post sharing the footage. “A little excitement on the front porch this afternoon. It’s warming up and the desert is coming alive.”

Rutz overlaid text on his video that said, “Only in Arizona.” He also set the video to music from the classic spaghetti-Western movie, “The Good, The Bad And The Ugly,” which really sets the scene.

Both rattlesnakes and gila monsters are venomous reptiles. (In fact, gila monsters are one of just a few types of venomous lizards in the world.) The Smithsonian National Zoo says the two predators have similarly toxic venom, though the way these two animals deliver the venom is quite different. Gila monsters bite prey and hold on, sometimes for 10 minutes or longer, whereas rattlesnakes strike fast, release immediately, and then wait for the venom to take effect before consuming their prey.

As to who would win if these two animals decided to go head to head, it remains a mystery. This showdown ended in a truce.

Watch a rattlesnake and a gila monster on an Arizona porch here:

Header stock image by Milan Zygmunt / 500px/Getty Images

Source: https://outdoors.com/showdown-on-arizona-porch-rattlesnake-vs-gila-monster/