I live with a Gecko

Last week I walked into my kitchen at night to a clicking sound and discovered a gecko on my wall. Now, these guys are quite cute! Appearance and actions. From wikipedia:

Geckos are unique among lizards in their vocalizations, making chirping sounds in social interactions with other geckos. Geckos are unusual in other respects as well. Many species have specialized toe pads that enable them to climb smooth vertical surfaces and even cross indoor ceilings with ease. These antics are well-known to persons living in warm regions of the world where several species of geckos make their home inside human habitations. These species (for example the House gecko) become part of the indoor menagerie and are seldom really discouraged because they feed on insect pests.

One teammate and I were discussing their actions and came to the following description:

When they see you, they freeze and look at you - and you can almost see them thinking "Can you see me?". When you start walking, they figure you can - so they run a few feet over and then freeze again - "Can you see me now??!!?". We concluded that the gecko must figure it's a chameleon . . . but alas, it is not - and we can always see it.

Cute as it is, I am not sure I want it in my house. Though, one of my teammates says I am lucky to have it - it will eat bugs. Another teammate sadly tells me that I will have to get rid of it (ie: kill it) because it will just leave gecko poop all over the floors and walls. Why did no one tell me this before I came?? (yup, because I think they are cute.)

So I head off home to see what I can do about my gecko. Not willing to kill it (it is soooo cute) I figure maybe I can trap it under a bucket and then slide the bucket through my house, onto the verranda and then release it. The next morning I went on a gecko hunt as I saw the gecko poop on the kitchen floor. Had I found it, I am sure my guard would have been amused when I released it - for at the same time he was washing the verranda!

This morning, after searching again last night and finding no gecko poop this morning, I came to some conclusions. I also found a spider in the kitchen which I had to kill - so obviously, the gecko is not doing his job!

Conclusions:

1. the gecko has left the house from whence he came
2. the gecko has died of a heart attack from my attempts to find him
3. the gecko is too scared to come out - because of all my attempts to find him

Well . . . the lizard lives . . . So . . . scratch all the suppositions of this morning: - the lizard is not dead (or died of a heart attack), the lizard has not left the house from whence he came, and he is definitely not too scared to come out BUT- he is not doing his job (because of the spider I found this morning). I just went to grab some more water and found a gecko poop in front of the fridge which was not there at lunch! aggh! So I went on the hunt moving all the furniture. I found him behind one of the moveable counters, but before I could pull it out far enough to get something over him, he ran out and behind or under the washing machine. dude - they are fast!! So - the hunt continues with fervor!

It is a bummer that there a nine things behind/under which he can hide himself! If he was smart, he would stay under the washing machine as that is too heavy for me to move - I am hoping he is not smart! He likely is though, as I did not find him after he ran away. If only I could trap him in the big living area, it would be an easier job (there is not much in there to hide behind or under!). Maybe I will try to chase him this direction and block off all the other doors.

Another third teammate told me last night that she doesn't kill, trap or chase geckos either - as they eat bugs. I was slightly willing to go with that theory (minus the unpleasantness of the poop), but having to kill my own spider this morning killed the geckos chance at the same time. (I hate spiders!) So, I am off on a catch-&-release hunt. What makes it more difficult is the fact that these geckos are night creatures - I will likely have to stay up until 2am to really get a good chance at finding him!

Disclaimer: No teammates names are mentioned to protect identities! :)