The Daily Herald on Sunday, August 24
THE HERALD STAFF

You come to Utah and fall in love with Arches, Canyonlands, Goblin Valley and the Bonneville Salt Flats, a wonderland of red rock, hoodoo and mineral. Yet this land belongs to a host of vertebrates distinctly nonhuman as well as some spineless but feisty fauna.

So you get startled by Giant Hairy Scorpion.

Or bitten by a desert recluse spider.

Or, heaven forbid, nailed by the venom-spewing fangs of a 5-foot-long Western diamondback rattlesnake.

Such an encounter with toxic native fauna could put a real damper on your desert bliss -- or, in rare instances, kill you.

Now -- when temperate weather increases the chances for a meeting between humans and poisonous critters -- might be a good time to learn how to recognize and avoid these little desert downers.

Here's a guide to some of the main biters and stingers among us.

Gila monsters

These formidable-looking reptiles, the only poisonous lizards in the United States, spend much of their lives underground. They're usually of little danger to people -- unless people mess with them.

"They appear to be slow moving, and this is where people are sometimes deceived," says Jude McNally, managing director of the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center at the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy. "They think they can pick the Gila monster up, but they can turn on you and bite very quickly."

One race of the gila monster, the banded gila monster, occurs in Utah, in the extreme southwestern corner of the state. The banded gila monster is listed as endangered on the Utah Sensitive Species List because of the limited number in the state. Major threats to the banded gila monster in Utah include habitat loss (primarily from urban sprawl) and over-collection.

In Utah, preferred habitats for the gila monster include large rocky shelves, sandy areas, and creosote-sagebrush areas. Gila monsters in Utah are most active during the spring and summer months, although they do spend about 95 percent of the active season in burrows or under rocks.

To transmit poison, the large lizards must chew it into the site of the bite.

"This pretty much requires that it hold onto its victim for some time," McNally says. "But seconds can seem like hours when you have a 2-foot lizard hanging on you."

To disengage a biting gila monster, McNally recommends getting down on your hands and knees so the lizard can have all four of its feet on the ground.

Rattlesnakes

Sooner or later, you're likely to come across a rattler if you live in Utah. There are a wider variety of rattlesnakes in the Southwest than anyplace else in the world, more than a dozen -- nearly 20 counting various subspecies.

The Mojave Desert sidewinder, Crotalus cerastes cerastes, is the only race of the sidewinder that occurs in Utah.

The Southwestern speckled rattlesnake is included on the Utah Sensitive Species List due to its restricted habitat in the state.

The midget faded rattlesnake, Crotalus viridis concolor, is a subspecies of the western rattlesnake that is found in western Colorado, eastern Utah, and southern Wyoming.

The Great Basin rattlesnake is found in much of western Utah, where it occurs in a variety of habitats ranging from prairie and desert areas to open mountain forests. This species is primarily found on the ground, but will occasionally climb into trees and shrubs. During periods of cold weather, Great Basin rattlesnakes occupy mammal burrows, crevices and caves, where they become inactive.

The consequences of a bite can vary greatly.

"A 4-foot Western diamondback can deliver a dry bite" containing insufficient venom to do damage, McNally says. "But a 24-inch tiger rattlesnake could deliver a life-threatening dose of venom."

About 20 percent to 30 percent of all venomous snakebites reported nationally are dry bites, McNally notes.

"But absolutely go to a medical facility for any rattlesnake bite," he says. "Any rattlesnake bite is potentially life-threatening until proven otherwise."

The key to surviving a venomous bite is to get to a health-care facility quickly.

"The sooner you get to a care center, the sooner antivenin can arrest the symptoms and prevent further damage," McNally says.

He advises against cutting and sucking the site of a bite or applying a tourniquet because those techniques haven't been shown to help.

"And some of those techniques could worsen the situation," McNally says.

The best way to avoid a rattler bite is simply to keep your distance. Toying with a snake, attempting to move it or trying to kill it can increase your risk of being bitten.

"If you see a snake, stop where you are and take one step back," McNally says. "Then you're probably out of the strike range and danger."

McNally says there's never been a documented death from an Arizona coral snake -- long reputed to be deadly poisonous.

The Arizona snake, he says, apparently differs from extremely poisonous ones found in Florida and Texas.

Scorpions

Southwestern Utah is home to dozens of species of scorpions, but the small bark scorpion -- barely 11/2 inches long at maturity -- is the most dangerous.

"It's the only one that could produce life-threatening symptoms," says McNally. "It gives a very painful sting -- sometimes described as feeling like a hot poker, with an 'electric' numbness or tingling sensation that follows."

Bark scorpions usually are light brown or straw-colored, with slender tail segments and slender pincers in front.

McNally says 95 percent of adults stung by a bark scorpion will be able to recover at home without medical treatment.

"But children might need to be seen in a hospital right away -- especially if there's hyperactivity, roving-eye syndrome or difficulty breathing," he says. "Young children and anyone with a history of heart disease really need to be evaluated following a scorpion sting."

Black widow spiders

If the name of the black widow spider isn't enough to scare you, its bite might get your attention. This arachnid ranges all over Utah and throughout the United States.

"It's a burning, stinging type of pain with muscle cramps that will follow," says McNally. "Most healthy adults can manage this with first-aid treatment at home. Wash the area well, apply a cool compress and keep the site elevated. You could also take aspirin or Tylenol if you normally tolerate those drugs."

Discomfort can persist for 12 to 24 hours, or longer in the case of a severe bite.

McNally says adults with a history of blood pressure or heart problems, or those experiencing severe pains or breathing difficulties, should head for an emergency room.

"Children under 5 may need to be seen in a health-care facility because the venom could cause cramping throughout the body," he says. "For children under 5, this can be a life-threatening emergency."

The adult female black widow -- recognizable by a red hourglass shape on the underside of the abdomen -- is the one that might bite. The female has a leg span about the size of a quarter. Males are smaller and aren't considered a threat to people.

Black widows are out and about during late summer and fall -- especially at night.

Limiting spider habitat, such as wood piles, near your house is one way to limit encounters with black widows.

Tarantulas

True tarantulas don't live east of the Mississippi. Several types of tarantulas call Utah home, and they are especially numerous around the Topaz Mountain area along the Thomas Range in Millard County.

"The tarantula is regarded as kind of the gentle giant of the spider world," McNally says of the hairy, fist-size spiders. "It usually has to be provoked to bite, and the bite creates only local symptoms -- redness and inflammation."

Perhaps of more concern is a little-known tarantula defense system involving the release of so-called "urticating hairs."

"They create a burning, itching type of rash on our skin," McNally says. "A tarantula might employ this form of defense before biting us and wasting its venom on something that's not a viable meal."

Kissing bugs

Also known as Hualapai tigers or cone-nosed beetles, kissing bugs are actually parasites "that visit us at night and survive off our blood," McNally says.

"They exchange fluids with us and can cause a local reaction that resembles hives," he says. "Some patients can have a full-body, life-threatening reaction, but that's rare."

Anyone experiencing a reaction away from the site of the sting -- such as puffy eyes or a rash elsewhere on the body -- might be having a hypersensitivity reaction and should get medical care.

Kissing bugs are half an inch to three-quarters of an inch long and dark-toned with a teardrop shape. They sometimes have red or orange tips on their wings.

Bees and wasps

Bees and wasps can kill people and pets -- but it usually takes lots of stings to deliver a fatal dose of venom.

Sealing up cavities and openings around your house is one way to discourage bees from establishing a colony there.

In the event of an attack, experts advise that you take shelter in a building or car as quickly as possible.

If there's no refuge nearby, cover your head and run. Running through brush or foliage might help you lose your pursuers.

Sources:
Doug Kreutz of the Arizona Daily Star had the original idea for this story and provided much of this text. Other sources include the 2003 Biological and Conservation Database, The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and The Nature Conservancy.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D1.