The Great Gecko Roundups...

For the most part its really interesting to see all the flora and fauna here in central Florida. Since we have lived here in most of the seasons, we are starting to get a better feel of things. So far, spotting an Ibis, the white bird with a long, slim curved beak still is a delight to us, as is daily sightings of pelicans and lots of other birds.

The squirrels here are thin and small, but recognizable as generally the same as the more macho ones we had in Maryland. Ive even seen mice eating the seeds from palm trees.

Geckos and other small lizards are around everywhere outside, but we value them for their contribution to insect control, and dont mind them as long as they stay outside. Weve also seen snakes and other creatures that we would just as soon not, including one tiny slim snake who took some time to find a way out of our pool. Needless to say, I check the water before swimming now.

But its the interchange of these creatures with our cats that can be a little disturbing. Youve heard of the Lucky snake episode and Powder Puff trying to get 15 feet up the coconut tree to get something as yet unidentified.

Geckos seem to be fair game though. Lucky seems to get them fairly frequently, and we have seen him with their hind legs and tail sticking out of Lucky's mouth all too often. Once, as told before we also saw him trying to spit out a gecko that had obviously bit Lucky's tongue as a method of self preservation. So far all the geckos we have seem them with have gotten away - they are clearly a temporary play thing for the cats. Lucky brings them to our glass door, and with the legs and tail sticking out of his mouth waits patiently for us to notice. When we tell him he cant bring it in the house he drops it, and every one is happy.

Now Powder Puff has done the same thing although its a little more dramatic when she does it since the dark gecko stands out against her white coat. The effect is pretty startling actually. Its hard to blame the cats, after all they are just doing what is in their nature. So far, nobody seems to be hurt. The geckos generally either get away or run away if they have been released. Once one played dead for a while but ended up moving after the crowd died down.

So we are still trying to teach the cats that the inside of the house is to remain a gecko-free environment, even if they are bored and want live playthings.