Big, beautiful, malnourished
On one of the first stops of the trip, we pull over in Death Valley to a gorgeous view of tall mountains against a brilliantly blue sky. The group split to walk up two different hills, both pining for the best view possible of the tall rocks and seemingly barren landscape. Where we stopped to look was windy, but Vikram, Alva, JC, Pedro, and I were warm from the strenuous hike up. When we were called down to get back in the car, we were smiling ear to ear and hoping the rest of our journey would be this scenic. As we get back down to the group, I turned to see a large lizard looking over at us from 2 or 3 meters away.
The large body plan and bulky head showed me that this was a Chuckwalla, though due to his absence of the traditionally dark coloration, I pegged him as a juvenile. Soon everyone had been alerted and were excited to see our second reptile of the trip. Chuckwalla was a species that was high up on my list to see during the trip out west, and I was glad to see one in any condition, thought this big fella was not doing very well. The typically rotund sides of his belly were small and held flaps of skin from a lack of food. It helped me to realize the tenacity of desert creatures, that even after a long period of drought in an already extreme climate, life persists.
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