Garden Safari V: We Love our Lizards

We know and love the lizards that share our living space. They are the ultimate in low(no)-maintenance pet. They're used to us and we're used to them. In fact the ones in this house are often cleaning up our stray crumbs in addition to eating a large part of the bug population that gets in.

Here in Dar es Salaam, we have an unusual one called a "Dull-green Day Geko." According to our reptile field guide this species is highly particular to this bit of coastline on the African mainland and to the Zanzibar Archipelago as well as being known to assist with housekeeping when they take up residence with humans. Apparently our gekos are listed in Appendix II of CITES due to their popularity with lizard collectors around the world. Despite frequent discoveries of small clutches of 2-3 eggs and their tiny former occupants, I have no intention of attempting to harness their impressive reproductory powers for profit. I just like watching them in what they assume is their natural habitat. They'll be here long after I am.

These rarer versions of the common house gekos we've lived with in all our African abodes are no more or less interesting and fun to have around. All the rooms in our house have their highly territorial geko occupants. The best way to keep track of who's who is to note the re-growth of tails lost in battles and other crises in lizard life. There are two males and a female in our living room engaged in a violent love triangle. The fights and dances are fabulous. Below is a picture of one day's victor and his lady -- ahem.

A couple days ago Kobus asked Simon and I to help rescue a baby in his office that had got tangled in some spider's web. This can be quite a serious issue for a being that is about 25mm long. We put it in a jar with a bit of water so the baby coule have a wash and added a few of the smaller ants we can find in our apartment to give it something to eat if needed. Early the following morning I put the tiny geko altogether with his rock perch from the jar on a shelf in the pantry. It sat there until after 4pm but was not to be found when I went to make dinner at 5. I did get to snap a couple pictures before the day got away from me...