Reptiles are probably not everyone's favourites, but I love lizards. Of course, it's far too cold where I live to see any of these wonderful beasts, but I've seen a few different types on my travels. One of the many great things about them is the sheer variety, so let's start with extremes. In the small corner, we have the absurdly tiny Brookesia Micra, a chameleon which was only discovered recently in Madagascar. In the large corner, the Komodo Dragon, a fearsome looking sort that isn't going to take cheek from anybody...
Well I got a little back yard at our first floor apt. and guess what I've got a family of lizards. The lady lizard is by far the most friendliest and patient one. She comes out to inspect me with both eyes and she sits there looking at me and wondering as if to say what are you doing in my yard? I began to talk to her when I think no one is watching me and she comes out all the time now when I'm in the back yard. The male of the species keeps on wagging his head so much that I looked it up on the internet and it means he is protective of his home and swaying his head to keep invaders away! They have little baby lizards from time to time and you can quickly tell the male wagging his little head at you and the female just looking at you at a safe distance is from each other. They are so much fun to watch scampering all over the back yard.
According to folklore, when lizards inhabit the ceiling of the house that means the house is protected. That there are some spirits guarding the house and those spirits take care of the lizards hence the presence of lizards is an indication of a protector. There are lots of lizards in our house but they seem to be over-acting. Sometimes they appear on the dining table as if trying to partake in the food. They are always in the kitchen scavenging for food. Our housemaids are used to it so sometimes they deliberately leave some food scraps for the lizards. Even our dogs do not mind the lizards when they see them because lizards are a common sight.
A lizard tale (indeed, a lizard tail) from my days in Eritrea. My house usually had one or two geckos in it, something I didn't mind at all, because anything that cleared up insects was welcome. It was also amusing to watch them - quite often, you'd get one clinging to the wall next to the strip light in the evenings. One day, I came home and went to the bathroom to rinse the clothes I had been soaking in a bucket (my standard laundry procedure). When I went to remove the clothes, I found a small gecko in the water. I lifted it out gently and was astonished to look at what was in the palm of my hand. What I had was a tail, still wiggling about. The gecko, however, had dashed off. Now I knew that lizards could shed their tails in times of danger, but I hadn't expected to see it at such close quarters. The gecko was evidently not too perturbed, as it continued to appear regularly in the house, albeit a rather shorter gecko than it had been. Its continued presence allowed me to see the regrowth of the tail.
I'm a fan of geckos. .. they look like smiley happy creatures! They really are amusing to watch. I have many around my yard, and some get into the house.. I enjoy watching them as they are watching me. A learning lesson ... when the grandkids are over, I've had to teach them to be kind to geckos and if they have to move them ... be gentle!
There are a lot of geckos without tails around my daughter's house. They do grow back but I read it's really traumatic.
Sometime in 2007 or 2008, there was a hoax that almost wiped out the gecko population here. The rumor said that some Koreans are buying geckos that is used as ingredient for medicine. The prices is in hundreds of thousands and there are exaggerated talks that some Koreans have bought big geckos for a million dollar. The craze lasted for more than year before people realized that it was just a hoax to fool the gullible. And who would buy geckos for such a price? That is plain silly but so many silly people were duped... we know some of them.