Incurablog: A Naturalist At Work

28 Jan 2012

So I did something I don’t usually do.  I intervened in nature.  Call it the arrogance of the human viewpoint or call it a desire to not get shit on while in bed anymore.  Either way, it’s done. Some of you may remember back in the first treehouse there was a gold dust day gecko that hung around that I called Hank.  He was an amiable companion, much like the leopard gecko I had as a child in Kansas.  He also did a fine job of keeping the anoles out of the house, a divine quality which I have come to value above all his others (though be assured he has many). Nearly a week ago I awoke to a most unpleasant smell wafting down from above me.  I opened my eyes from my midday nap to observe a slender glob of lizard poo hanging from the mosquito net above. The anoles that thus far had so dutifully decreased the surrounding bug population were now basking in the rafters beneath the skylight above my bed and delivering those very same bugs directly to me in a manner most foul.  This continued for three days.  Clearly something had to be done. On tuesday I was walking to the old treehouse to borrow a rake.  My ADD compelled me to glance into the compost bucket to see if any animals had crawled in, as they sometimes do.  I peeled off the lid and there staring up at me was Hank.  Or another gecko that looked exactly like Hank.  For the purposes of this story we’re going to call him Hank. I thought for about two seconds then plucked him out and set him in a capped bucket, brought him to the new treehouse, and released him in the bedroom. No more anole shit.  After about two days he seemed to get up the nerve to chase all the anoles out to the roof, so now inside it’s just me and him. So yes, I captured an innocent animal to perform a task for my own selfish reasons.  There was poop involved.  I’m choosing to call it “being resourceful”.  I’m fairly sure he’ll stick around.  In this forest day geckos tend to stick to roofed spaces and dry areas.  He has plenty of food and sunlight here and with the anoles out there’s no competition. So once again the bed is shit free and “Hank” is watching me blog.

So I did something I don’t usually do.  I intervened in nature.  Call it the arrogance of the human viewpoint or call it a desire to not get shit on while in bed anymore.  Either way, it’s done.

Some of you may remember back in the first treehouse there was a gold dust day gecko that hung around that I called Hank.  He was an amiable companion, much like the leopard gecko I had as a child in Kansas.  He also did a fine job of keeping the anoles out of the house, a divine quality which I have come to value above all his others (though be assured he has many).

Nearly a week ago I awoke to a most unpleasant smell wafting down from above me.  I opened my eyes from my midday nap to observe a slender glob of lizard poo hanging from the mosquito net above.

The anoles that thus far had so dutifully decreased the surrounding bug population were now basking in the rafters beneath the skylight above my bed and delivering those very same bugs directly to me in a manner most foul.  This continued for three days.  Clearly something had to be done.

On tuesday I was walking to the old treehouse to borrow a rake.  My ADD compelled me to glance into the compost bucket to see if any animals had crawled in, as they sometimes do.  I peeled off the lid and there staring up at me was Hank.  Or another gecko that looked exactly like Hank.  For the purposes of this story we’re going to call him Hank.

I thought for about two seconds then plucked him out and set him in a capped bucket, brought him to the new treehouse, and released him in the bedroom.

No more anole shit.  After about two days he seemed to get up the nerve to chase all the anoles out to the roof, so now inside it’s just me and him.

So yes, I captured an innocent animal to perform a task for my own selfish reasons.  There was poop involved.  I’m choosing to call it “being resourceful”.  I’m fairly sure he’ll stick around.  In this forest day geckos tend to stick to roofed spaces and dry areas.  He has plenty of food and sunlight here and with the anoles out there’s no competition.

So once again the bed is shit free and “Hank” is watching me blog.

  1. katpowerschange reblogged this from incurable and added:
    good enough reason for
  2. noworseforwear said: I do this with mediterranean geckos to keep bugs off the porch
  3. seashelllz said: love it! i used to have a leopard gecko, too! :)
  4. how-to-kiss-distinctly-american said: Look at it this way: You delivered Hank to a banquet.
  5. incurable posted this