Australia’s NOT Bad Things

My “Australia’s Bad Things” category continues with “NOT” Bad Things. I know many of you are waiting for the real scary creepy crawlies and they are on the way. Soon. But first….

Brisbane is lizard city, they are everywhere. 59 species from all five Australian families have made Greater Brisbane their home. What are these five families? Geckos, Flap-Footed Lizards, Dragons, Goannas and Skinks.

Water dragons are the most spectacular. They hang around by the river on the banks, the males nearly a metre long. Not seen one of those inside the house yet, but as you know, I had a small one Common Bearded Dragon around my pool.

But we do get loads of these in the house.

Our Regular Gecko

This one seems to turn up every evening at the same spot. It is outside of the house but inside the wooden window shutters. It’s a good spot for him because the light from the kitchen attracts insects and our gecko is hiding in the ” he’s behind you!” position on the shutters. I think it’s a very successful hunting ground for him.

These are called the Asian House Gecko. They can be little babies, about an inch (30cms) long, or adults that grow to about 5 (150cms) or so inches. Here’s a toddler.

Baby Gecko

And here’s another adult, this one was in the garage.

Adult Gecko in the Garage

We love geckos in our house, we think they are cute. My daughter is happy when one is in her bedroom, she knows it will look after her if any insects come in. These little things do scare easy though. If you corner one as I did in the early days, I was just trying to catch it to let it out, they can shed their tail. So now, if one finds its way into our house we let it find its own way out again. Seems fair.

Sometimes I “rescue” the tiny ones as they will have more chance of catching an insect outside of the house than in. The best way of catching these little things? I use a dust pan and brush and gently guide them into the pan before taking them outside.

But nothing surprised me more about geckos than when I found out it was them that make the really loud “CHUCK, CHUCK, CHUCK” noise at night. Cute little geckos. Big noise!

Praying Mantis Update.

In my last post about intruders I suggested that in all probability the Praying Mantis is my favourite insect. I am currently rethinking that theory after watching the following video…………