Sunday, November 26, 2006

I wonder if they're all called Gordon

The gecko in the letterbox was cute. The gecko that fried the computer of the outside aircon unit was a good story. But the gecko trundling around in the bottom of my coffee cup this morning when, half asleep, I took it down off the windowsill came closer to giving me a heart attack than anything else ever has.

It had a half-grown-back tail, a process which apparently takes a long time, so it was clearly a creature of adventurous temperament that had found its way into a few strange places before today.

8 comments:

Ampersand Duck said...

We found a little dead one in Bumblebee's bedroom yesterday. It's little arms and legs and tail were chewed off. I don't know which cat got it, they were both smiling. I gave it a little funeral.

Ampersand Duck said...

The lizard, that is.

Anonymous said...

I saw two yesterday: one in the curtains in the living room and the other chopped up under my feet as I was mowing the lawn. I felt quite sad over the one I inadvertantly murdered.

Kerryn Goldsworthy said...

I like lizards and hate it when they get killed by mowers -- I've had two big blue-tongues minced up by the Jim's Mowing man over the years.

I did draw the line at the teeny-tiny one that fried the aircon's computer (and everything else), though.

redcap said...

I like the geckos they have in Malaysia. They chirp, which I think is rather endearing. One of them scared six months' growth out of me one day by bolting out a hand of bananas. It skulked under the cooker for the rest of the night. Occasionally, one would fall off the ceiling onto the ceiling fan and go sailing across the room, which was always amusing.

TimT said...

I haven't seen any blue tongues in Melbourne; in Newcastle, it was a different story. My parents live there, and once a blue tongue even found its way into their pantry. (Said pantry was on the second floor). My brothers and I, growing up in country NSW, discovered the amazing vice-like jaws the blue tongues had when they bit on something. (I'm thankful to say we didn't lose any limbs.)

Lizards are endearing creatures, it's true.

Suzer said...

You're creature stories are beginning to frighten me off my move to Adelaide;)

worldpeace and a speedboat said...

ooooh geckos. exotic!

there's nothing so exotic here, but we have many many wee skinks which keep me happy. at The Delightful Nanna's holiday house there's the bigger skinks, sunning themselves on the driveway.

where I grew up, we had a family of bluetongues living in a deep, cool crack alongside the swimming pool. lovely! and fortunately none of them ever went under the Victa.

I propose all lizards are actually called Kenneth, in line with Graeme Garden's habit (remember the Goodies episode when he bred dogs and strange hybrids?). everything in my house that doesn't have a specific name is called Kenneth. I have a triffic iron lizard doorstop from the 1940s and he is most especially Kenneth :)