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The cat was going nuts in front of the tv cabinet tonight. I got my flashlight and looked under the cabinet. There was a reptile that I had never seen before. Like the geckos we have around, it had sacrificed its tail to the cat. It looked kinda like a baby crocodile, but it had feet like a tree frog. I looked on the internet and the best I could come up with was the Mediterrean house gecko. It looked like the picture, but the body without the tail was about four or five inches long. According to the article, the house gecko does not exceed 6" in length. If it had had it tail, it would have been at least 8 or 9" long. When I grabbed the thing, it hisses at me very loudly. I released it in the bush. I could not get a photo of it. Any ideas as to what it could have been?
Posted : January 31, 2010 12:36 am
Garry Coleman??
Posted : January 31, 2010 12:52 am
Lizard, go home now and quit messing with the locals. No sorry, I don't have a clue but I couldn't pass up a prime opportunity.
Posted : January 31, 2010 12:55 am
Mutant gecko? Beats the heck out of Gary Coleman. LOL. Seriously, I have never had a gecko or lizard hiss at me. Freaky!!!
Posted : January 31, 2010 12:57 am
Turnip-tailed Gecko (Thecadactylus rapicauda)
Google it, introduced only on St. Croix. native to Peru.
They're noctornal, have one living happily in my pump room, scared the jeebies out of the wife once...hilarious.
Posted : January 31, 2010 1:02 am
Hilarious, you say........ask your wife! :@)
Posted : January 31, 2010 1:04 am
I stumbed upon this website awhile ago, very useful, but bookmark it I can't find a link to it on the Main USVIRCD website.
Posted : January 31, 2010 1:12 am
"Garry Coleman??"
Best laugh I have had in a while!:D Thanks DUN
Posted : January 31, 2010 2:31 am
tubbuscubby hasn't arrived on the island yet.:-o
Posted : January 31, 2010 2:32 am
Shame Lizard
Posted : January 31, 2010 2:37 am
:@)I couldn't help myself!
Posted : January 31, 2010 2:44 am
AllMashUp,
THAT'S IT! Thank you so much, you're the best. It sure scared the bejesus out of us. I've never seen anything like it.
Unfortunately, I don't think this particular one is going to make it. Besides being scared, pissed and missing it's tail, it also had an injured foot. Are they rare, or just rarely seen?
Linda J
Posted : January 31, 2010 5:13 am
It sounds like a wood slave.
Posted : January 31, 2010 9:44 am
Wood Slave indeed! Also known as a "Common house Gecko" It was most likely already in the house before the cat found it. They love to hide in dark places.
Posted : January 31, 2010 11:14 am
they also have a very wicked giggle...........or a noise that resembles
Posted : January 31, 2010 12:17 pm
I don't think it was a house anything, it was VERY large.
Posted : January 31, 2010 3:28 pm
We get Wood Slaves here that are as big around as snakes... and they have little bulbs on the ends of their toes to hang on to the wall. The first time I saw a huge one clinging to the wall, it about scared the hell out of me... but they are harmless.
Posted : January 31, 2010 3:38 pm
Topic starter
It wasn't a wood slave. I've seen those and this was a lot bigger than that. From looking at the pictures on the internet, it could be a turnip-tailed gecko. The body without the tail measures between five and six inches. Unfortunately it died where I put it in the bush last night. That's how I know how big it was. The body is larger around than a quarter. As it had sacrificed its tail, I don't know what that looked like.
Posted : January 31, 2010 5:49 pm
That is a woodslave (hemidactylus mebouia) which is also known as the Mediterranean house gecko . When they reach full size they can be 10 " or more and quarter-sized in diameter, as you mention. Also, the voice you describe fits. If you had not mentioned the feet, I would also have suggested that it was also possibly ameiva exsul, which was introduced to 5corners several years ago and is expanding its territory outward from that point.
Posted : February 1, 2010 8:30 pm
