The Gila Monster

When I was a teenager I saw what I was sure was a Gila monster lizard on the Black Hills between Annabella and Glenwood. The only trouble was, Gila monsters were not known to inhabit that area. We thought they were only found in Arizona and California and Mexico. When I told others about it, most of them said I was crazy. "There aren't any of those in Utah, " they would say. My father was the only one who said he believed me. Later I actually questioned it myself. Had I really seen it? It looked just like the pictures I had seen in books, though the colors did not seem quite as bright. I was researching something else on the Internet yesterday and happened to discover that not only do they exist in Utah, but they were made the state reptile in 2019! I feel more vindicated now. See, Dad? I was right all along!