There is a gecko in my bathroom. 
This is more or less fine with me, and absolutely fine with Erin and Hank. It is not, however fine with my mum, who was briefly cornered by said gecko.
When Erin told her that she couldn’t believe she was afraid of something so small and harmless, my mum replied in true McPhee form.
"I am not afraid of the gecko. I am simply very uncomfortable around him."
A gecko is much less disturbing than a large spider or bat. I am with Hank on this one, the gecko is absolutely fine.
Did he try to sell you insurance?
That’s just your garden variety lizard there. Grew up with em all over, used to hang em off our ears as kids.
Tell your mum about all the bugs those little guys eat, and maybe she will become more comfortable. Sounds as though you’re having a great trip–bravo! Best, randmknitter
Awww, lizards are cute! Not the same with having a bee in your house, which always causes me to announce,”Leave, before I do something we’ll both regret!” The kids usually usher the offending insect out of the house.
Hmm. I think I’d be in your camp. More or less okay with a gecko. However, I was recently approached by a very large, very aggressive spider in my own bathroom. While I was in a compromised position. I was NOT okay with that. Not even a little bit.
I wanted to make the Insurance joke, but Ruth beat me to it. Poor mum. Surely it won’t spoil the bathroom for her!
Phobias are not subject to rational thinking. I have a spider phobia, telling me how harmless they are and how they catch flies does not help one bit. Just get rid of the geckos before your Mum sees them if possible and be understanding to your Mum.
He’s very tiny green and kinda cute! I doubt he’d harm anything more than a fly. 🙂 I vote with Hank too. Sounds like your vacation is wonderful! I love the coconut from yesterday, and Hank getting his wish to drink the milk. Have lots more fun!
He’s very tiny green and kinda cute! I doubt he’d harm anything more than a fly. 🙂 I vote with Hank too. Sounds like your vacation is wonderful! I love the coconut from yesterday, and Hank getting his wish to drink the milk. Have lots more fun!
I agree with Terri – tell your mom about all the bugs and other creepy-crawlies that cute little gecko will eat. Maybe she’ll relax then.
Enjoy the rest of your vacation!
Cute! Much better than the enormous hairy spiders in our bathroom in Mexico…
lol at the insurance joke!
Your Mum is very polite.
I love those things. When we lived in Houston they would get in the house all the time. And we had tons of them in the garden. One morning I found a little one in the hose. I picked it up and it layed on my thumb with its little back legs spread out like how a dog does on a tile floor on a hot summer day, and slept. And yes, I sat in the chair, on my back porch, in my robe while it slept.
just borrow one of those chickens you saw up the beach, she’ll take care of that gecko no problem. 🙂
I’m so going to borrow that when I meet my next praying mantis. Shudder.
I LOVE geckos! I love it when they crawl on the walls!
FYI – That is a lizard; I don’t know the name of it, but some of them change colors to blend in with surroundings. Geckos are rubby almost see-through with disproportionate sized eyeballs.
We have these lizards all over here in Florida. They eat bugs so are great to have around. Unfortunately, the ones around my home typically don’t have tails because my cats chase them and, as a defense, they snap off their own tails which keep wiggling so they can away! But don’t worry, they grow back.
I would far prefer a gecko to spiders 🙂
I was born and raised in Florida and we had those nasty things. I think they are nothing but snakes with legs – ewwwwwwwww. Tell your mum to be careful because they will jump on her Soooooo gross!!!!!!!!
(Deb? – that is very sweet)
Steph – what you got there is an “anole”. They can actually make good pets, but if you try to remove him by grabbing him by the tail,don’t be surprised when the tail comes off in your hand. He will grow a new one (although not as pretty as the original). It’s a defense mechanism, but rather alarming when it continues to wave around in your hand!
You’re more likely to see geckos there on your window screens at night. Probably they won’t be big and sgreen like the Geico gecko – but smaller, more colorless, and will have the sucker-pad feet we associate with geckos, and not the clawed feet you can see on your little friend there.
(be careful Hank does not catch one for a pet and want to bring it home with him 😉
That is actually an anole. Geckos have shorter meatier tails. I like both. 🙂
I believe that’s actually an anole, not a gecko. They’re very sweet and eat bugs. Also, for your mom’s benefit, they don’t run up walls and overhead on ceilings like a real gecko would.
I’m with your mother. If it doesn’t have fur or feathers, that classifies it as a ‘Creepy Crawly’ in my book, and I’m outta there!
I love how everyone assumes the gecko is a boy — ah, the power of advertising! 🙂 I bet we all expect him to speak with an australian accent, too!
Might it be easier for mum to think it might be a girl gecko?
Oh he’s beautiful (or she is)! I would love one in my bathroom, but sadly they are not to be found in this part of the world. You can keep your spiders though.
I don’t mind lizards & anoles, but I prefer to not have to share my bathroom or bedroom with them.
Give him/her a name and think of all the bugs s/he’ll eat.
That there looks like an anole to me. Geckos have more prominent bulbous toes and stubbier tails.
You can tell if the anole is a male or a female by looking at the dewlap, the little flap of skin under his/her chin. If it is as big as or bigger than its head, its a male, if smaller, a female.
Ok, I love that when I read a knitting blog I learn the difference between an anole and a gecko. Either way, I just want to know does an anole eat wool?
Aaaw he’s cute. Someone just told me that in canada february 9th is Wear-a-sweater-day, were they pulling my leg?
Years ago, they were deliberately put in bathrooms in Hawaii to eat bugs and mold. It was normal to see one on the wall or in the shower. People were very careful to not use harsh cleaners that would make them sick. I guess they were orgainic bug removers. I never could see that outweighing the knowlege that gecko poop was in the bathroom.
Sarah: As someone on my FB quipped, in Canada everyday is Wear A Sweater Day! *lol*
And Steph, that is a cute gecko. 😀
I *think* geckos are a sign of good luck. So maybe this is a good omen!
Better than the cockroaches we found in our room at our hotel in Kingston, Jamaica when I was in college….I swear, it was the size of my fist.
Luckily, that was the only one we saw…
He’s cute. We have so many of these in NC. They can run fast so the best way to catch him if you want to move him is to put an open paper grocery bag in front of him and then “shoo” him into it. This is the only way I’ve found to catch them when they get in the house without harming them. They eat bugs and so are welcome on my porches and deck – but not in the house. The ones that live here have a cute red dewlap under their throats. They look like little dinosaurs.
I just love that he seems to be checking out his own reflection in the tile. Your mom may not be comfortable with him but he (or she) seems very pleased with himself. Or maybe he/she is just trying to remember how he got into the bathroom in the first place?
I’ll take lizards over bugs any day!
Now we all know why you didn’t want to leave Canada–you’re missing National Sweater day (http://sweaterday.ca/). It is a shame to be missing the holiday that so encompasses your life (and to be spending it somewhere that sweaters aren’t needed!!)
Better than the scorpion that was in our Costa Rican bathroom!
Anything but a snake.
i LOVE anoles! we (incorrectly) called them “chameleons” when i was a kid, until i learned what they really are. we used to catch them and keep them in open gallon pickle jars with sticks and leaves and just let them hang out until they wanted to leave. some left immediately, some hung around. watching them mate is also amusing!
Ruth F in PGH, poster #2- you rock. 😀
You have to the the mum answer. Show no fear your children are watching.
Being slightly behind on my blog reading, I first thought, “They have geckos in Canada? In winter? Who knew?” Fortunately the other characters in this post clued me into the fact that I had missed something.
Have you ever seen the remake of The Parent Trap (with Lindsay Lohan before she discovered substance abuse)? Toward the end there’s a scene involving fun things you can do with lizards and people who are, ahem, uncomfortable around them.
not to be knit-picky (groan) but that’s an anole. they’re common throughout the West Indies and all the way up in the Carolinas.
Classy “Art Gecko.” Er, it works better spoken than written. (Art Deco, get it?)
So cute. The mascot of our “GEICO” car insurance (Government Employees Insurance Co.) & I’ve never seen one quite so cute. Bright green.
They are everywhere here in Florida, too. I like it when a gecko moves in to the house. They eat the mosquitoes. My husband did decide to relocate the one that chose our shower recently, though.
I’m ok with most critters and spiders, but one day a ‘house centipede’ crawled out from under my printer and walked across the room, and I HAD to search and destroy. The idea of that thing living with me was unbearable. Its large, has tons of legs, is raised up off the ground, and moves fast. ick ick ick. That gecko is cute. Wait, dont you have a cat? umm….
I’m with your mom on this one.
eeek! But less scary than a snake would be for sure. Looks like such a fun place to be….loved the adventure to find food!!!
I think he is cute. I would much rather have him than a spider, or worse. I think lizards are cute. Please enjoy the holiday for us too. Enjoy!
Looking at that picture, some animator at Disney needs to see that: it’s a sword. Wait. The hilt is bent. Wait. It’s moving. It’s alive!
(That was for Hank.)
I agree with your mum. My position is that I will not enter a creepy-crawly’s domain and they should not enter mine.
The gecko is adorable. I’d suggest taking it home, but you don’t need a tropical pet in Toronto.
Gecko like to hide in things like cardboard paper towel rolls. (They have the cat logic that if they can’t see you, you can’t see them either and they’re safe.)
Just leave a spent paper towel roll on the bathroom floor. If you/Hank scare the gecko, he’ll probably hide there. Cover both ends with your hands and carry the tube outside. 🙂
amazing.
When my grandson lived in Hawaii (ages 1 – 3) he so loved the geckos that he would daily go on a search for them. They like to sleep in dark corners, so the search involved a flashlight and was quite high adventure! Enjoy!
If you feel compelled to remove him, grab him by the body, or you’ll end up with a wiggling tail (only) in your fingers. Don’t worry, the gecko will grow it back soon.
well at least they don’t eat wool! we have a mouse in our house which we have so far been unable to capture…my fear is he and all his relatives are living in my stash!!!
I dont think that is a gecko. Looks like an ameiva (equally harmless and quite productive at eating fleas, mosquitos, nats, and other tiny annoying insects).
Better him than the “palmetto bugs” we discovered in our rental house in North Carolina a few years ago. My MIL insisted on calling them palmetto bugs, but I know a roach when I see one, and these suckers were huge! Thank goodness it was the last day of our stay or I would have been out of there.
Sarah, yes, today is Sweater Day in Canada. Unfortunately it is not an official holiday:
“The national campaign, promoted by the World Wildlife Federation, encourages people to lower their thermostats by three degrees and put on a sweater if they get chilly.
If every Canadian turned down their thermostats by that much in the winter, it would save 2.2 megatonnes of carbon dioxide each year — the equivalent of taking 350,000 cars off the road, according to the WWF”.
Keep your suitcase CLOSED. When I arrived home from my Hawaii trip I discovered a dried-up little gecko corpse (RIP) in mine.
Ah, a housepet! This type is great for eating mosquitoes and other household pests, so let him stay with you.
We often got iguaunas visiting my parents’ house when they lived in Venezuela, they like to sit on the bathroom windowsill and watch us shower! A little spooky to come out of the shower and find one googly-eyed watching you, but they loved to wander the empty wet space after we left.
for more amusing tips on sweater day: http://laughingsquid.com/national-sweater-day-a-granny-will-call-to-bug-you-to-wear-a-sweater/
This is AWESOME! But I can understand her being uncomfortable with it. Nobody wants company when they’re having private time in the bathroom, even if it is a cute little lizard thing.
be careful. my daughter returned from her honeymoon and as she was unpacking her suitcase she found a little gecko stow away. had to keep him for 6 months till she could find him a ride to Florida!
I wonder what size needles its tail equals?
re “queso de hoja”…”hoja” means leaf. Is is by any chance cheese slices?
I love your mother’s approach to the gecko.. not afraid, simply very uncomfortable! I think that’s a wonderful way to look at a situation and I’ll attempt to apply it the next time I’m confronted by a spider or other fear-inducing event!
I got a good chuckle over this. I remember finding one of those in a bathroom in Hawaii. I was equally as uncomfortable.
OMG!! I thought you could not top the free-range chickens but you did with the “lagartija” photo. I am officially homesick now.
I’ve lived with Geikos in my home when I lived in Hawaii and then in South Florida and I must say that I have never seen one with such a long tail! That would give me pause.
Wait till she sees an iguana! C’mon, Mrs. McPhee, geckos are cute. And they eat tons of bugs, which makes them OK by me!!!
I grew up in South Africa, where geckos are plentiful, and never struck me as anything other than adorable.
However.
One night, just after bedtime, I felt something very light (a fly, I assumed) land on my cheek. I sleepily twitched. It didn’t fly away. In fact, it started crawling… and I realised it was way too big to be a fly.
Chills. Horror. Spider?
Couldn’t bring myself to touch this unknown monster. Did, just, bring myself to whip my head hard to throw it off – successfully. Got out of bed. Switched light on.
Gecko!
Awww.
So that was the time that a sweet, charming, harmless little gecko brought me to the brink of sheer panic.
Somehow I don’t think all this talk about the tail of the anole/gecko waving around after it breaks off is going to comfort your mum, Stephanie. Can you keep her from seeing The Blog today?
I don’t mind them when they are green, but for some reason, when they have turned themselves brown they are much more freaky to me. We get them in the house occasionally, so I’ve had to get over it.
Geckos are supposed to be lucky. We get them in the houses we rent when we go to Hawai’i. They eat bugs, which is good in my book (so I wish we had them to eat the mosquitos in NJ).
Ruth F: I nearly chocked when I read your comment. Now I have to clean the diet coke off of my computer monitor.
We had geckos on our deck when we were in Jamaica – my nephews absolutely loved them.
When I lived in Ghana, I grew so accustomed to the friendly presence of the geckos on my walls that I ended up sprinkling decorative geckos around my walls when I moved back to Michigan.
Yeah, did he try to sell your mum insurence?
Remind mum that geckos eat mosquitoes and possibly other insects. That should make them welcome visitors 😉
they are absolutely lovely. they’ll climb on your hand if you sit down and invite them. enjoy!
I love the adventures you are having. I bet you are glad you are there. Really fresh pineapples can not be beat! I think even the bananas are better.
Have you thought how this experience might influence your knitting or will that come later after the trip? New color combinations, fabrics, textures, or a special project to remember your time in the warm and tropical land of the DR? I will watch for what comes next!!
That tail looks a bit unnerving — it might have a sharp end to it. I’d be nervous too.
Then there was the story about the woman who came back from South America with a lizard in her luggage, threw her dirty laundry in the washing machine, and only noticed the lizard when it fell out of her freshly-washed jeans. The lizard is fine — it got taken to an animal refuge. The woman is recovering at home after laughing herself silly.
Ah, but the lizard (probably an anole) will eat the mosquitoes and other bugs, which are usually far worse than the gecko. Plus, they’re so cute and green!
so I think you need to knit something gecko green!
hmmmmmmmmmmmm I smell a new project!
cute little lizards most definitely eat mosquitoes. In a tropical climate, the geckos (or whatever cute little lizard is local) are you best friends!
Although, while this is rare, they do occasionally lose their grip on the ceiling and fall into your plate of spaghetti. But that really only enhances the vacation experience.
Not a gecko, that is an anole. Also native to Florida, and changes color from grrn to brown for camouflage. Eats LOTS of annoying insects!
Glad no one is afraid!
LOL
You know yours was the first blog I visited. So you gotta know when I was asked to nominated blogs for the Versatile Blogger Award I had to nominate yours.
Good luck,
Leanne
http://sweatercursed.blogspot.com
Perfect comment Ruth F!
like Anne says, if the DR is anything like Puerto Rico, where I vacationed in December, you might also want to watch for iguanas hanging out in the bathroom windows (and ALL of the trees). personally, that was one of my favorite parts!
Let’s focus on the positive here: anoles don’t eat wool. But they do eat *moths*. Win!
We have an anole in our kitchen every couple of weeks because it is the warmest room in the house. Thankfully, he is in his own container and he is gone by Monday morning.
He is my daughter’s classroom pet and she “loves” him which is why he gets to come over on the weekends and we get to feed it crickets.
We used to buy these anoles at the State Fair of Texas. The vendors would put a thread around their neck and attach it to a safety pin. Then you would wear it on your clothes for the rest of the day. I think that I had one live for about two months at home and I fed it mealy worms. Now we just watch them around our house and laugh when they claim their territory by enlarging their red throat pouch. Fun reptiles. Just don’t let them bite your nose (or lips).
In your moms defense, that is a rather large gecko. Still, better than something else creepy crawly! I love that she is not scared, but very uncomfortable. Love it!
When we honeymooned in Costa Rica, there were geckos all over the restaurant. We liked and gave them names. However, I did not enjoy getting trapped in a bathroom stall with a Halloween crab. Yikes!
Eeeeck! Not good with lizards. I think you mum is being entirely sane about her aversion.
I briefly forgot you were on vacation and was puzzling over a gecko in Canada in the dead of winter.
They are perfectly fine and won’t do any harm to scaredy Mom. We have them all around the back yard here in Houston (they are actually Green Anoles) and we also do have nighttime Geckos that are a bit opaque looking. Both are quite scared of us but quite entertaining to watch. Plus they are probably eating up all the insect life that might be in your room and bathroom. Tell that to Mom and she’ll be happy they are there.
Where does the anole-gecko thing sleep at night? Hopefully he/she spends the night out and about, catching bugs. Not in your apartment.
I remember when Zellers sold anoles as “chameleons.” Many a chameleon was purchased, only to perish two days later. Your little friend has an amazing tail. Maybe you could knit him a cotton tail cozy.
When we lived in Hawaii (5th and 6th grade- eons ago!) it was considered very lucky to have a gecko in the house. My sister and I had one that lived in our room and there was one that was frequently seen in the living room. They usually stayed up near the ceiling (we had a cat) but occasionally ventured down to our level. Our house stayed relatively bug free so we figured they earned their keep.
It would have to go. I would be freaked out…grossed out. I couldn’t be as polite as your Mum. Some nice brave person would have to remove it for me and then I would take out the disinfecting wipes.
Cuteness! Way better than a spider.
I don’t tweet, but queso de hoja is basically white cow’s milk cheese. 🙂
We have geckos here…not in the house, please. If one slips in, I count on the cats to let me know. I try not to let the cats eat geckos, because then they barf gecko parts on the wood floor. Geckos can be captured by putting a paper cup over them, then sliding an index card under the cup. Outside with them all!
Heck! I live in FL and we have them in the house all the time. Won’t tell you about the teeny tiny flat one that’s smooshed on the edge of my back door – guess he wasn’t paying attention when someone swung the door closed. We’ve had a couple toads and a snake in the house, too. I bet Hank would love to know that if you can catch the little guy, you can hold it up to your earlobe and it’ll grab on with it’s little jaws (aka “biting” but harmless enough) and it’ll hang there like an earring.
Your mum is awesome! Love the careful restatement of the situation. Y’all have a great time!
I love geckos! This post brings back memories of another shower post you did a long time ago about a “spider” in your shower. I still laugh when I think about that one!
Glad you are having such a great time!
Whatever you do, do not kill it. I lived in Mexico for a while and we had little geckos called cachoras that lived in pretty much anyplace they felt like. One of my fellow exchange students got very irritated at the one that had taken up residence in his room because it chirped and made noises at night. He decided to kill it with a rather weighty tome and the next day showed up at school with huge welts all over him. Apparently the poor departed cachora was keeping a whole host of mosquitoes at bay by eating them each night.
They are very cute, as long as you don’t step on them! But I can’t believe you are not in Canada to participate in National Sweater Day!
http://www.sweaterday.ca/
As long it doesn’t stand up on it’s hind legs and prattle on about car insurance in some hokey cockney accent, I wouldn’t worry.
I love your mum.
And I’ll have to remember that the next time I see a bug that makes me very uncomfortable.
I think you are brilliant to bring along an eleven year old boy on your vacation. He appears to make everything so much more exciting.
Well, I am guessing Geico commercials aren’t big in Toronto, but still, tell your mum, that geckos are champion cockroach chompers, and perhaps she will develop a fondness for them. Of course, that could make things worse. Lizards do dart quickly, so that can spook people, but really, he isn’t iguana ugly.
When I was in Nicaragua those things were everywhere – they make a kind of sound like when you make fish lips and do a kissing sound. I echo others’ comments that they eat all the things you really don’t want in your bathroom – mosquitos, spiders, ants and the little cockroaches (so gross). While I wouldn’t kill them, I certainly wasn’t ready to pick them up and call them cute. If they did their job and left me to my things, it was hunky-dory.
After reading all the comments about how great geckos are at keeping insects away, I’m starting to wish for one here in New Jersey!
His tail is freak-ishly long. They don’t show you that in the Geico commercial.
eeewwwww!
Unlike the ‘geckos’ in Borneo that turned out to be monitor lizards (think 4 ft long, smelly, carnivorous – they eat chickens) and slobber. New arrival had to suddenly say goodbye to husband who was travelling up country for a few weeks, and neighbours were asked to look in on her. She went to a party that night and mentioned the ‘geckos’, she was told to leave them in her house, they were good and eat the insects etc. She was found cowering in her bedroom four days later, monitor lizards in the living room!
It a’int easy being green.
Those Geico advertisements must have really clicked with some people.
Hubby’s comment “That’s the longest, skinniest gecko, I’ve ever seen.”
I’ve been giggling to myself since you’ve been there. Remember all of those Cloisonee mittens?????
b,
Ahhh…thought you might want to know…geckos do bite. And they can hang on, too. They’re cute and they’re fun to watch. And they eat a ton of bugs. Just don’t poke one with your finger.
I was once involved in a tragic gecko incident, attempting to shoo / remove said lizard from a Florida apartment. No geckos nor knitters were harmed in any way – Tragic shame followed said removal attempt as my friend and I both screamed and squealed like little girls hopped up on sugar at a slumber party every time the damn thing scurried. Screaming ensued after each attempt at calming both ladies and lizard. “We are grown women, for God’s sake!” was declared by both of us more than once.
In other words, I am with your mum.
It looks like you have an American Anole — like the American version of the chameleon. 🙂 I had them growing up as a kid. They change colors based on their moods!
I went to Hawaii for the first time around the time Jurassic Park came out in paperback (I am old). I had jet lag and was reading it in the dead of night, totally freaked out by the dinosaurs.
We we staying in a house, and I crept into the bathroom in the middle of the night. I turned the light on and saw what I considered to be a “Jurassic creature” on the mirror. I thought my sister or friends had stuck a toy up there for a joke because of my anxiety over the book, but when I took a closer look, IT MOVED. I screamed bloody murder and woke the entire house up, and then had to explain why I freaked out over a gecko on a bathroom mirror. I blamed the book — and there were no Geico commercials then. Anyway, your mother has my sympathy!
When the next one is found — and there will be a next one — round up the nearby members of the McPhee Family Singers and treat your mom to a few choruses of “It’s Not Easy Being Green.”
Love it! (your mum)
Anoles are wonderful — they eat things you don’t want in the house and there is no need to be afraid of them. Don’t try to take one home, though…you’d have to knit a teeny sweater to keep him warm 🙂
According to mom (who grew up in Thailand where they infested houses) if you wander the house at night and hear a crunch, you stepped on one.
She can’t stand the things (I think they’re cute, but I never had to wake up to one sitting on the nightstand by my head like she did)
Love geckos! Of course, on the other hand, I had to rescue my husband from one when we were in Hawaii on our honeymoon. Still cracks me up to this day that he was so scared of it. Of course it was right above the bed, luckily not in the middle of the night… I was nice and put it outside. If you need to move it, they bite but have no teeth so it doesn’t hurt. I used to own one as a pet.
Is Hank gonna try to bring him home?
but he’s so cute! way better than a spider (which i hate).
i’m loving these posts/updates btw, i haven’t been on holidays in what feels like absolutely forever (many years) so i’m appreciating the opportunity to live vicariously through you. i hope you have a most awesome time.
It’s because they scuttle. Anything that scuttles, with a likelihood of it scuttling on YOU, produces high levels of anxiety.
Like the wood spider the size of my palm that dropped from the ceiling on to the bed between Hubby and Self with an audible thwap. Followed by two mature adults leaping out of bed simultaneously and upon locating said spider, beating it to death with a handy house slipper. I knew the spiders were in the house, but we had an agreement: stay out of my reach and you can live. That spider clearly had not read the lease agreement.
Then there was the cockroach the size of Albania in my hotel room in Jacksonville – sitting on the bathmat, calm as you please. He got flushed in double-quick time, before he could take any evasive or aggressive action…
Lizards seem mild, but the second it moved I would be reduced to chittering hysteria.
When me, my sister and my brother were teenagers on a trip to the British Virgin Islands, my brother was so not freaked out by the anoles on the ceiling when we went to bed. Mr. Macho. So, my sister and I were ready at lights out and lobbed a piece of cheese, just the right weight, and just perfectly so it landed on his bare chest.
Not afraid of anoles, but screaming terrified of flying cheese he was.
You mean he doesn’t walk upright and talk with a British accent? I don’t think I’d like to see that in my bathroom, either.
I’d take the lizards over bats any day. We have occasionally found fence lizards (West Coast in the house). We capture and release them outdoors, then wash and sanitize our hands.
Handling bats is much more risky. Care for post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) for rabies? The CDC web page attributes most of the rabies cases in humans to bat exposure.
Both lizards and bats are needed in nature, but I really want the bats to stay outdoors…
It’s been way too long since I’ve been in that part of the world, but my memory is that one place we stayed had lots of lizards, the other, cockroaches. I’ll take the little lizards any day.
Geckos are generally nocturnal and have a shorter and thicker tail than your lizard. They make a semi-chirping/clicking sound at night that does sound like the word “gecko” if you formed the word in the very back of your mouth using your soft palate and the back of your tongue. One was in my bedroom closet when I lived in the Philippines, and he’d “chirp” after I’d turn the light out at night. OK with me as long as I never saw him (or her)!
It’s an anole like the picture you took in Houston when you were there. I remember this because I used to live south of Houston and wanted to see what you went to while you were there, but you didn’t have time for anything but lizard pictures!
Had them in the house when I was on Okinawa. Best pest control around! Beats all those chemicals any day.
Did he try to sell you insurance?
That looks like an enole. Did it turn gray-brown when you scared it?
Oh, it’s so cute!
Oh, I am so with your mum on that one! I am a weenie about reptiles.
When my husband-to-be and I stopped over in Barbados on our way to be wed in Grenada we had separate rooms (puritans that we were!). Shortly after I settled into my room there was a knock at my door: “Are there lizards in ALL the bathrooms?”
Yes dear, welcome to the tropics.
Those little lizards are as common in the southern parts of the States as deer flies in the North Woods & far less annoying. (have you ever been bitten by a deer fly? Really stings – not as bad as a bee but you definitely notice it ).
The gecko was probably looking for a spider to eat. 😉
well, for moment or two I was wondering why there was a gecko in canada, after all it’s snowing here, so it should be cold there too, and gecko’s done live in cold…then I remembered…vacation…LOL..
When my daughter was a teenager, she babysat for her “other brother” (godmother’s son) in University Housing which was overrun with houseguests of the sixlegged kind…his wife, a marine biology major and unafraid of any creature, got 2 of those guys (HUGE ones)and let them run loose in the house for insect control. They cornered my daughter and she called me to rescue her…they hissed at me, so we both waited on the kitchen counter till homeowners got back….YUK I’m with Mum.
i share the discomfort factor! did you see the length of that tail??? i am fine with a nice, glass wall between me and the wildlife. either that or a safe distance. don’t want the stuff in my personal space! 🙂
Please tell Mum that there is no gecko-cam. She can safely shower in front of the green one.
Please tell Mum that there is no gecko-cam. She can safely shower in front of the green one. Also have never heard of a ninja gecko. Plus, they eat bugs. Gecko – good.
I had a lizard in my New Orleans apartment on New Year’s Day several years ago. Everyone I contacted to get it out of my living room said it was good luck. I’m from NJ and feel lizards belong in zoos, not my living room. It was sitting next to the tv remote with the cats, looking up at me like, “You got any chips, yankee?” I finally got someone to put it outside in a tree.
Anoles — many different species of anoles in the American South, the Caribbean and South America. They are all over the place here in Louisiana in warm weather. They eat roaches. Down here, the BIG roaches FLY. We worship our anoles. The scientific name for these little guys is “cat toy.”
Like the blog, appreciate the share!
“I am not afraid of the gecko. I am simply very uncomfortable around him.”
TOO Funny!!!