What is that salamander-looking critter?

Spring is sprung, so let’s discuss our newest addition to the reptile population here in Baytown. I’m talking about the little whitish lizards which first appeared here about 20 years ago and now are quite plentiful.

The Mediterranean House Gecko is the new kid on the block augmenting the green (Carolina anole) and brown anole we all grew up playing with (or running from). They are short odd looking lizards which appear to waddle when they are frightened. Of course to notice this behavior a person cannot be doing the same thing while tearing off in the opposite direction. Unlike the anoles, they are nocturnal.

Anoles do scare some people and I can personally attest that if you catch one, it will bite and if you hold it up to your earlobe, it will grab a mouthful and hang-on, like a bulldog on a rope. I’ve been known to have an anole hanging off of each ear and it is a real experience as they tighten their grip. The gecko will not do this. They would rather get away from humans.

Geckos have sticky toe pads, vertical pupils, and their large eyes lack eyelids according to the experts. Our native anoles do not possess the ceiling-climbing skills of the med gecko (which I will refer to as “MG’s” henceforth) and that is one reason folks “freak out” as one falls on us when we open the door at night.

Are they something to fear? Yes indeed and folks have reported a wide range of injuries associated with MG’s. Some of the more common maladies are, running over lawn furniture, stutter-stepping, tripping, banging of the head on closed doors, stubbing of the great toe, screaming until tonsils are sore, repeatedly falling, and in one case…the vapors.

Seriously, the tiny white, pink, or pale little lizard is a tremendous friend to us on the Gulf Coast for their ravenous appetite and consumption of insects. I gladly welcome them around my house, but then again I have a long history with the little critters.

In September of 1972 I was sent courtesy of the United States Air Force from Great Falls Montana to Takhli, Thailand. It was in the 50's already in Montana and when I stepped off the C-130 onto the tarmac, it was about 110 degrees.

I was in the vanguard of troops reopening a base and the only one exiting the plane. I looked around with my squinted eyes and could hardly breathe the damp stagnant-smelling air. I was 20 years old and I thought "Yikes! I am going to be here for a year"!

I processed in and at the end of the day I found myself alone, lying on the top bunk of an open bay barracks (I was afraid a cobra would come in during the night if I was on the bottom bunk and get me).

There was a dim light on at the end of the huge room, the temperature was about 95, and the absence of wind was causing me to sweat profusely. The ceiling 10 feet above me was covered with geckos chasing huge roaches and bizarre bugs. I remember being very lonely in that cavernous empty barracks. I don't think I slept at all that first night. I spent 21.5 months on this base and had plenty of creepy-crawlies cross over me in my sleep, something I never got used to.

The MG’s are here to stay and even though they look scary, slimy, wet, dry, pale, ugly, devilish, and in one case…tasty, we need to see this little fellow as a friend. Fellow Baytonians, please do not spray insecticide on them, or let your kitty eat them if at all possible.

Our lizards eat their weight in mosquitoes, bugs, roaches and are man’s second best friend, so give them their space and they will give you yours. And, if you can catch a pair of geckos and get them to hang from your earlobes, let me know. I want a photo.