h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Geckos!!! Lovely creatures, I have some chatting away outside (and inside..Grrr) right now! I know absolutley nothing about(careful there)Leopard geckos, but I will always respond to Geckos if they are mentioned as a Genus(?). I can sit and watch Geckos and their immediate opposition here, which are the various types of Green Tree Frogs(or just Frogs!)for hours!! As they jockey for position and then settle into their prefered spot for ambush! A Gecko has its inate speed to rely on, but also has to be aware of the prodigious leap that a full grown Tree Frog can accomplish. Watching these unacknowledged combatants duel is one of lifes pleasant pastimes also it makes one thankful for the use of a set eyes that are mounted in a head on a neck that is able to turn very,very, quickly when these denizens of the lighted indoor/outdoor roof embark on their nightly ritualistic jostlings and sometime bombastic posturings! "Hey you Gecko!!" Yeah? "See that cockroach over there near the drain?" Yeah. "3 big leaps by me will get me a meal of Roach! Bet you can`t beat me to it!!!? "Oh yeah frog!!? Watch this then and weep!!.......Ummm, I,m still watching(and waiting)..lol.....cheers...great entry F/P..

Thanks rhynch

Your welcome I will never make a peer reviewer, but I live in a place where bloody Geckos abound! We(my son and I) spend ridiculous amounts of time watching this nightly ritual and we watch various groups of marauding Geckos eyeball the opposing Tree Frogs as they too move in to positions of prominence under the neon(if their lucky) lights. After a fair amount of observation you realise that geckos are fussy buggers! Not for them your commonly available foodstuffs, they will rather elegantly turn their noses up at yummy fodder that no self respecting Tree Frog would even give a second bloody thought too!!! if it moves I will jam it down my throat. as well as giving a 2 toed salute to the snobbish Gecko across the room !!..cheers ford once again for a really nice entry...(err.. I just know someones going to pick me up on the use of ..nice)

Thanks

Do you know what type of the Geckos around you are?

Actually I don't! but now that you ask I will delve into this and find out for you(and me). I do know that my Maltese Terrorist barks an barks and bloody barks(grrr) at them when they scamper across the tin roof(we have a lot of tin roofs here) They are usually about this big{--------------------------------------------------------------}9 The Geckos I mean not the bloody roofs) maybe a bit smaller maybe a bit bigger. anyway ..I will track this down and let you know. Cheers Ford

Let me know how you get on...

Ford-p

G'day Ford
I chased up some stuff on the Geckoes here ...and I actually learned something! The Geckoes I,m talking about are these little buggers......

Asian house gecko
Hemidactylus frenatus
Ever been startled on a quiet evening by a loud 'chuck-chuck-chuck' from the corner of your ceiling? Chances are it's an Asian house gecko, also fond of calling in the daytime.

Australia's only introduced gecko, it's also the most vocal. Rarely found in the wild, its main habitats are in and around buildings, where it comes out at night to feed on insects attracted to lights. Look for it on the coast in north Queensland and the Northern Territory.

And it would seem to have migrated down to the mid tropics which is where I live. the 'chuck, chuck, chuck ' noise is very,very distictive. a lot of people associate it with their holidays when they return overseas or to different parts of Oz. If you like Saurians you would love this place! In the back yard where I live you can find Water Dragons,Bearded Dragons, Blue Tongued Lizards, Thousands of little skinks(no exageration..well maybe hundreds)Land Mullets(now theres a funny Lizard)Legless Lizards, and monster bloody monitors or Goannas. Christ, can they move or what? A metre and a half of claws and munchy bits..brrrrrr..creepy too the way they just sneak up on you.

Just as an aside...there is a wasp down here called the Spider Wasp, we call it a Hornet.Its a big fast honey and black coloured stingy thing that buzzes. Anywayyyy(bear with me) it hunts spiders(D'oh!)not just any old spider, but Huntsmen Spiders. Now these get up to about the size of your outstretched hand (Go on look down at your hand now with splayed fingers..big isn't?)and there sheer size usually scares most things away, but not the hornet. It has some very strong venom or such like and once it stings the spider, death is just round the corner. Some times while the Hornet is trying to drag this big carcass away it stops for a breather. Thats when the wily Gecko steps in and says ' Ta very much! I'll have that thankyou!!' and bloody nicks it! Its a great spectacle believe me, one is left to ponder the vicarious nature of existence! Cheers Ford.....ok..one more then..

Id love to live somewhere there are wild lizards, but im in England so there is only 1 wild lizard, the sand lizard, and its very endaged. Your realy lucky you live were there are so many interesting lizards! Your making me very jelous!!

hi i live in england and would love some wild lizards i have a leopard gecko and geting a camelion and a bearded dragon in the forseaable future

We have sand lizards, common lizards and slowworms, which are, technically, lizards.