The video shows how the two made it out of the water safely.
VAIL, Ariz. — A couple in southern Arizona got quite the surprise when they found a Gila monster paddling around in their backyard pool — with a large black bug riding on its back.
Alissa Corrado, who lives on the outskirts of Vail just southeast of Tucson, said she and her husband noticed the venomous lizard during a routine morning outside.
VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL: Una pareja de Arizona encuentra un monstruo de Gila nadando en la piscina de su patio trasero con un insecto en su espalda
“I came out to put some new cushions on my lawn chairs and we noticed it swimming in the pool,” Corrado said. “Luckily, the dogs weren’t out.”
Corrado said her house backs up to miles of open desert, and she’s grown used to desert critters — snakes, tarantulas, coyotes, and even javelinas — since moving from Oregon two years ago. But this was the first time she found a Gila monster in her pool.
“I just saw him there and he had the little hitchhiker on his back — this big black bug on him,” Corrado said. “Like, oh my gosh, what a scene.”
She and her husband quickly grabbed a pool net and gently scooped the lizard and its buggy plus one to safety. The pair posed for a few photos.
“He sat there for a little bit, you know, with his head up, and he looked like he had this little smile on his face,” she said. “It was really cute.”
Corrado said the Gila monster was safely relocated to a shady spot in the desert. The bug, which had stayed on during the rescue, eventually went its own way.
Corrado shared a video of the bizarre scene on the Arizona Creepy Crawlers & Desert Beauty Facebook group, where it quickly went viral — earning nearly 5,000 likes.
“I had no idea,” Corrado said. “I thought [Gila monsters] were more common.”
She said it’s the fifth Gila monster she’s spotted since moving to the area, even though many Arizona residents go years — or even decades — without seeing one in the wild.
Despite the desert surprises, Corrado says she loves her new life in the Sonoran Desert.
“I love it here,” she said. “I love the landscape, the plants, the animals.”
Gila monsters are a protected species in Arizona. Though venomous, they are generally not aggressive and rarely bite unless provoked. Experts recommend admiring them from a safe distance and contacting wildlife officials if one appears injured or in danger.