These animals use scary looks to their advantage. Monsters


Desert Monster Far out in the desert, a black head pokes out of a hole in the rocks. Its eyes glitter. Its mouth opens and its forked tongue fl ickers. T is monster is ready to hunt. Get ready to see the Gila monster in action. It’s been months since this lizard ate. In


times when food is hard to find, it stores fat in its tail. It’s been living off this fat. Now its tail is skinny, and the lizard feels hungry. T e monster snorts and hisses. Its tongue


fl icks out to test the air. It’s trying to pick up the scent of prey. Like other reptiles, it uses its tongue to smell. Suddenly, the lizard starts to run. It smells


dinner. It climbs through desert grasses. It crawls over rocks. T en it finds a nest full of baby birds. In a fl ash, the lizard grabs a baby bird. Its powerful jaws crush down. Venom drips from its 50 sharp teeth. T e monster opens its throat and swallows the bird whole. T e Gila monster gulps another bird, and


another. It cleans out the nest, but it’s not full yet. It hunts more. By the time it’s done, it has eaten a third of its body weight. Full, it crawls back to its den. T e monster will hide in the dark until it gets hungry again.


Star of Scares A diff erent kind of monster lives under the ground. Suddenly, the dirt starts to shake. Sharp claws poke through the ground. T en 22 pink tentacles sweep the dirt away. It can mean only one thing. A star-nosed mole is on the move. T e mole’s slimy tentacles wriggle and


twist. T ey touch everything they can reach. T at’s bad news for an earthworm. It can’t get out of the way fast enough. As soon as the tentacles feel the worm,


they wrap around it. T e worm can’t slip away. Slurp! T e mole gulps down the worm like a piece of spaghetti. Now the mole is full. It moves on, its tentacles feeling the way to go.


Cold as Ice T e next monster lives deep in the cold sea. Chemicals keep its blood from turning to ice. One look at its face, though, could freeze anyone with fear. Jagged teeth poke every which way from


the mouth of a wolffish. T ree rows of crushing teeth line the top inside of its mouth. Even more teeth grow in its throat. T is fish is so tough that it eats spiny


sea urchins. It darts out of its hole in the rocks. Its long, skinny body wriggles like an eel as it swims. T e fish grabs an urchin in its mouth and then backs into its hole. T ere, it crunches down on the urchin’s venomous spikes and cracks the hard shell. T en it gobbles up the urchin’s soſt insides. Despite its ugly looks and


tough diet, this fish has an important Gila monster


job. Too many sea urchins can destroy an ocean habitat. T e wolffish helps keep the urchin population from getting too big. Maybe that’s not so monstrous aſt er all.


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