Glen M. Johnston, age 9, of Walnut Creek, California, for his question:

There is the gila monster found?

The Gila Monster is named for a river which ate through the beautiful desert of Arizona. Both the river and the so‑called monster are spelled Gila ‑ pronounced Hee‑la. The name is Spanish and we keep, more or less, the Spanish pronunciation.

We would then expect to find the Gila monster in and near the valley of the Gila river. And so we do. He is also found in the southwestern deserts past of Arizona and in the Mexican state of Sonora over the border.

The so‑called monster is at most two feet long. He is a fat, squat lizard who seems to be adorned with fancy bead work. The beads are really little bits of bone set in his skin. He is quite a handsome fellow and no monster as to size, perhaps he was called a monster because he is a poisonous lizard found in North America. Then threatened, he is able to inject poison with a bite ‑ and when he bites ho refuses to let go.