Fay Turner, age 8, of Nashville, Tenn., For her question:

What is a Gila monster?

This gaudy lizard spends his lazy days in the region of the Gila river that flows through our southwestern deserts. We say the name of the river as if it were spelled "Heela," and the lazy lizard is called the Heela monster. The stubby fellow is only 22 inches long, so he is not a large monster. And as a rule, he is not a fierce fellow.

However, when scared, he bites, and his toothy jaws refuse to let go as his teeth inject poisonous fluid into the wound, The Gila monster is one of the rare as lizards. His skin is set with flat little bones, and it looks like a coat of beadwork. He is covered with blotches or banded with beadwork of red and black or yellow and black.