TOT- Critter Pic

[Ji in Hawaii]

Took a brief hike with wife & Son #2 up Manoa Valley above Honolulu. We saw dozens of these pretty critters and thought some of you may appreciate a picture.

[GonnePhishin]

Did he try to sell you any insurance?

[J Miller]

Uncle Buck, you beat me to it! That's what I was gonna say. LOL.
Ji that's a fine looking critter, really colorful. We used to have geckos and lizards of all kinds back in AZ. I really liked them.
Nothing of interest here.

Joe

[piller]

Very nice to look at. I have been told that often the brilliant coloring on things like lizards, frogs, and salamanders is a warning that they are poisonous. Is that true in this case?

[Blaine]

True story...we had roach problems in the old Pre WWII Quads at Schofield Bks, so we would catch little lizards and turn them loose in the room and wall lockers. Problem mostly solved. They lived up in the attic and the lanai.

[spaceman spiff]

VERY, VERY cool......



spaceman

[Ysabel Kid]

Cool! Y2K saw a couple copperheads yesterday. I wish he had seen one of those instead!

[gundownunder]

That's a really pretty gecko. We get an occasional one around here and I get to see a lot when I go on holidays to Bali, but they all look plain.

[Malamute]

Wow! The colors are amazing!

[86er]

Neat animal. Do people keep them as pets?

[awp101]

Cool critter but I want to know more about the camera and settings used...

[Ji in Hawaii]

Thanks for the positive comments, glad you enjoyed the picture.

Let me answer questions one at a time.
1. Yes I believe he was trying to sell me insurance but I couldn't understand a word due to his heavy Ozzie accent so not 100% sure.
2. No, I believe these geckos, and geckos in general are non-poisonous. For all their bright colors they actually blend in to the vegetation quite well.
3. I would not be surprised if people did keep these as pets though the sale of these geckos are strictly forbidden. Can't stop people from catching in the wild and keeping them.
4. Camera was a Fuji Z33 point & shoot "waterproof" (to 10 feet) camera that a friend gifted me recently. I set the zoom in closest setting and set the lens on macro then just got as close as I could. This was the best shot of a dozen tries the other geckos running away before I could get a good shot. Here's another one I took a picture of.


These geckos are very aptly named Gold-Dust Geckos, and are originally from Madagascar. They are unusual for geckos in that they are diurnal or active during the day whereas most geckos are nocturnal. I don't remember these being here at all during my childhood or even 15 years ago so they are relatively recent arrivals. From what I gather they escaped from a University of Hawai'i lab just a few miles from where I took these pictures, and they are thriving in this new environment. We have 4 species of native geckos but they are all pretty plain brown or moulted coloring, and they are nocturnal so their paths rarely cross though these Gold-Dust day gecko's range is increasing every year. I like them, pretty to see, and they keep the flies, mosquitoes, ants, termites, and roaches in check along with another recent arrival (last 20 years) from Puerto Rico the Brown Anole Lizard. There are so many Brown Anoles in my yards that they are impossible to avoid but better than flies.

Brown Anole (not my picture)

[gamekeeper]

Colorful little critters and they pay their rent by catching unwelcome critters too!

[Borregos]

Neat pictures, thanks

[draperjojo]

Looks like someone plugged him in and charged him all night long.......he's bright!

[bdhold]

very nice photo.
I used to keep a terrarium with orchids and a breeding pair of south pacific white line gekkos.
I raised two dozen babies and sold them to pet stores.

they don't have eyelids, and they wash their eyes with their tongue.