GECKO INVASION

So, one thing I was excited about when thinking of coming to Hawaii was all of the different plant-life and creatures that inhabit the island. I remember visiting my grandparents when I was a kid, and spending hours exploring. I was obsessed with catching all kinds of critters, including birds, mongoose, centipedes, etc.. I can also clearly remember an abundance of geckos crawling around at night eating bugs. The geckos I remember resembled the geckos we have in Texas. Small, almost transparent little creatures that could release part of their tail as a defense mechanism when threatened. But, almost immediately after arriving on the Big Island, I began to notice larger, green geckos with fat tails and red markings on their body. I knew that I had never seen a gecko like this before, for it would surely be something to remember. And strangely, these green geckos stayed out during the day. Last night I photographed this specimen as it was looking in our kitchen window.

As it came inside the window, I got a close-up photograph of it. If you ask me, these creatures are absolutely beautiful.

Apparently these critters are called "Gold Dust Day Geckos," and they come from Madagascar. The species is not native to Hawaii, and was supposedly introduced by a student at the University of Hawaii in 1974, when the student released eight of them that were originally kept as pets. The species is considered an "invasive" species, and could potentially upset the fragile ecosystem on the Hawaiian Islands. They consume bugs, pollen, nectar, and other geckos (which might explain why I have not seen any other types of gecko). They are everywhere in Kona, and they have been spotted on the East side of the Big Island, as well as on Oahu and Kauai.

These critters are everywhere, both outside and inside our apartment. We constantly have all the windows and doors open, so they come and go as they please. Which is really o.k. with us, seeing as how they eat all bugs at an alarming rate. Hawaiians consider these guys to be lucky, and so do we.

Every now and then you will hear them making a noise, called "barking," that sounds like a "kissing" sound. I guess that is how they communicate. Apparently males are extremely territorial.

Just to give you an idea how many there are, I was able to count at least 5 geckos from one position on the back porch in the span of about 30 seconds. Funny thing is, we have two cats roaming around, and according to the roomates, they have had an impact on the gecko population around our house. I can't imagine what it must have been like before the cats arrived.

For those of you planning on coming to stay with us sometime in the future, I guess you can consider yourselves warned. You will be forced to coexist with the "Gold Dust Day Gecko."