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Herpetologists? A Gecko Question.
nunn
Forums Admins, Member, Moderator Posts: 36,085 ******
I live and work in NE Texas. Mom lives in Arlington, west of Dallas.
For about two years now, Mom has been telling me she sees geckos around her porchlight eating bugs. Geckos are not native to the D/FW area, according to my range maps. She identified them as Texas Banded Geckos, native to south and southwest Texas and Mexico.
Well, now. I have just found a bunch of the little critters living in Greenville, Texas. Found one shopping center crawling with them.
How did they get here? Did they ride north with immigrants? And I am not real sure they are Texas Bandeds either. Their tails are banded, but the body is blotched and the whole critter is pink. I can't figure out how to post a picture here, but I will email a picture to anyone who is interested, since I now have one in a coffee can out in my patrol car.
I do know they eat lots of bugs. My plan is to catch a bunch and turn them out at my house.
SIG pistol armorer/FFL Dealer/Full time Peace Officer, Moderator of General Discussion Board on Gunbroker. Visit www.gunbroker.com, the best gun auction site on the Net! Email davidnunn@texoma.net
For about two years now, Mom has been telling me she sees geckos around her porchlight eating bugs. Geckos are not native to the D/FW area, according to my range maps. She identified them as Texas Banded Geckos, native to south and southwest Texas and Mexico.
Well, now. I have just found a bunch of the little critters living in Greenville, Texas. Found one shopping center crawling with them.
How did they get here? Did they ride north with immigrants? And I am not real sure they are Texas Bandeds either. Their tails are banded, but the body is blotched and the whole critter is pink. I can't figure out how to post a picture here, but I will email a picture to anyone who is interested, since I now have one in a coffee can out in my patrol car.
I do know they eat lots of bugs. My plan is to catch a bunch and turn them out at my house.
SIG pistol armorer/FFL Dealer/Full time Peace Officer, Moderator of General Discussion Board on Gunbroker. Visit www.gunbroker.com, the best gun auction site on the Net! Email davidnunn@texoma.net
Comments
The natural range of the Mediterranean gecko covers, as the name implies, Mediterranean areas of the Old World, from India through western Asia into the Middle East, and along both the southern and northern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. In those areas its distribution is primarily coastal. The Mediterranean gecko has been widely introduced into the New World, and is established in the Caribbean, Mexico, and much of south Texas, with scattered populations in several southeastern states and some areas of north central Texas. Much of the rapid spread of this species in the New World can be attributed to inadvertent (or in some cases intentional) transportation of eggs or lizards by people. In fact the presence of the Mediterranean gecko on the AC campus is due to an intentional introduction by a former AC student, with the consent of an AC biology professor.
Adults of the Mediterranean gecko are about 8 cm long, pale cream colored, with nobbly or warty skin. They do not have any pronounced markings. In contrast, the young (apart from being small) have pink skin and transverse bands of darker and lighter color on the tail. The Mediterranean gecko is almost exclusively nocturnal and insectivorous. It inhabits human dwellings and other buildings, and adults stake out territories around prime feeding areas, especially walls that are well lit at night. They are common on Wynne Chapel around the entries that are well lit.
One woman's opinion
The young ones I saw were VERY pinkish. I saw one adult that had a strongly banded tail just like a Texas Banded. The rest were mottled and blotched. These lizards all have toe pads, and the Texas Banded does not.
Also, in consulting Conant's range maps in the back of the book, i was surprised to find that colonies of these creatures have been established in the D/FW area, and my edition is several years old. So, I guess these guys are here honestly.
First ones I have seen though.
I sent pictures to Harleeman, and will send them to any who ask. The two that I captured and took pictures of I plucked off the wall at K-Mart in Greenville, Texas. They seem to be fairly localized. K-Mart has them, as does the shopping center and boot store across the road, but not any of the surrounding businesses.
One of our dispatchers lives a few blocks from K-Mart and she says she sees two of them on her screen at night. I have put my geckos up on the top shelf in my closet in a coffee can for the day. After it gets dark, I will release them here on my place, hoping they may establish here. I like critters, especially critters that eat bugs.
Thanks a lot.
SIG pistol armorer/FFL Dealer/Full time Peace Officer, Moderator of General Discussion Board on Gunbroker. Visit www.gunbroker.com, the best gun auction site on the Net! Email davidnunn@texoma.net