. . . the Gecko Saga continues

So, a week ago, I finally succeeded in chasing the gecko out of my house!! It was late in the evening and both of us startled each other in the hallway at the same time! I quickly closed all the bedroom doors and laid towels in front of them to seal any gaps. Opened the outside door and attempted to chase the gecko outside.

After thirty minutes, I had only succeeded in getting him close to the door - but not out. At one point, he ran under my sandal in the hallway, and had I not seen him go under, I would never have known he was there! Then . . . I lost him! As I searched around the doorway I suddenly noticed my wall blinking at me. I looked closer and noticed that my wall with eyes was kinda bumpy! Who knew?!! Geckos do have chameleon like qualities. This gecko had turned the exact same colour was the paint - had he not blinked, I would not have seen him.

So the chase began again. He evenutally came down the wall enough that I was able to catch him underneath a pail lid. So I stood in the hallway, sweating in the heat (no fans in the hallway) and holding this lid against the wall trying to figure out what to do. I thought maybe I could slide the lid down the wall and scoop him onto the floor so I could slide him out of the house. I tried this - after a few slides down, I noticed the gecko had found a gap and was waving its hand/paw (?) out from under the lid. So I lifted the lid a slight bit and he quickly withdrew back inside. I got the lid close to the floor and attempted to scoop downwards, however, the gecko did not comply and started to race up the wall again! So I quickly trapped him under the lid and tried again! After four failed attempts at this strategy, I again stood in the hallway holding a lid against the wall and wondering: "Now what?!!".

I finally remembered that my friend's househelp chases the geckos from the house with a broom. So I slid the lid down again and braced it against the wall with a chair. I found the broom, opened the door again, and lifted the lid off the wall. Sure enough, he ran up the wall, but with the broom I was able to direct him easier towards the door and out he ran!

45 minutes later - SUCCESS!

Though, the next day, I found myself feeling kind of at odds at what to do now. My two-week long quest was finished. I no longer had anything to occupy my evenings!

I need not have worried, two days later I woke up to a now familier chirping noise and upon exiting my bedroom - I saw two more geckos in the hallway!! Yikes!! Where are they coming from?!? Perhaps there were always three and I thought just one. At any rate, the new geckos are now laying eggs - for I have now seen two baby geckos about 1 inch long. And I can only guess at how many eggs have been laid in the house.

A few nights ago, one of the geckos found his way into my bedroom. I first heard him drop from the ceiling in the bathroom and skitter accross the tile counter. I lost track of him after that and went to sleep. Around 3 am, I heard him again. He was under my bed! When he dropped off my bed, I heard his suction feet pop off first and then I heard him hit the floor - two distinct and separate sounds! Aside from my concern that he would crawl into bed with me, it was a fascinating discovery!

And last night, I found another, though perhaps it is the second one that I couldn't find for a week. I now have two geckos trapped in two separate rooms. Every so often, I go in with a broom hoping they will appear so I can chase them out. But they are smart little lizards - they know when they are being hunted - and they hide for days! In fact, I usually only see them while they are in the process of moving to a different room once they know for sure I am chasing them.

So my gecko count to date in the house: 6

Here is one that I chased out (yes, I stopped to take a picture before the chase began!):