When Cody Machen, a zookeeper at Clovis' Hillcrest Park Zoo, was bitten by a Gila Monster he was transferring into a cage last Wednesday, officials were quick to point out that a bite from the venomous lizard usually isn't fatal to humans.

But Machen's mother, Sharita Haragan, told the Clovis News Journal that her son suffered a severe, potentially life-threatening reaction after he was bitten.

"It's actually worse than what people think," Haragan told the paper. "From what the doctor told me, there's never been a fatal (Gila bite) case, but it will make you wish you were dead."

Because of Machen's severe reaction, doctors at Plains Regional Medical Center placed him on a ventilator and gave him medication to slow his heart rate, the News Journal said.

But he was taken off the ventilator Friday afternoon and was breathing independently, said Haragan, who told the News Journal she expected her son to be moved out of intensive care soon.

Machen's arm remained swollen from the shoulder down, about three times its normal size, "and looks like a 500-pound person's hand," Haragan told the paper.

And doctors have said it's likely to stay that way for another three weeks or more, Machen's mother said.

The Portales native developed passion for working with reptiles in his youth when he "conned his grandparents into getting him an Iguana," Haragan told the News Journal.

But Haragan doubts the experience will dampen her son's enthusiasm for working with animals, the paper said.

5:40am 4/11/08 -- Gila Monster Bites Clovis Zookeeper: Man in stable condition after venomous lizard bites him in the hand.

Clovis zookeeper Cody Machen was in stable condition at the Plains Regional Medical Center after being bitten in the hand Thursday by a Gila Monster he was trying to transfer into a cage, the Clovis News Journal reported.

Clovis Parks and Recreation Director Rob Carter said the lizard that was donated to the Clovis zoo by the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish last month jumped from Machen's hand and bit the zookeeper when he tried to catch it, the News Journal said.

Machen was under sedation at the hospital's Intensive Care Unit while the lizard's venom works its way out of his system, the paper reported.

"The animal is venomous but it is not dangerous to humans," Carter told the News Journal. "There is probably poison in the body; they've got to get that out with medication."

The lizard was found and caged on Wednesday, Carter said.

Carter said Machen was following procedure when he handled the Gila Monster, which was about 12 to 15 inches long, the News Journal reported.

Venom from the Gila Monster is comparable to that of a western diamondback rattlesnake, but there isn't enough venom in one bite to be fatal to humans, according to the Smithsonian National Zoological Park Web site. 

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