Outsmarted by a Gecko!

Over the past few nights, we've been wakened repeatedly by the chirping of a Gecko.  They're not much to worry about really and can be helpful, given the fact that they eat mosquitoes etc. but at night they can be very annoying.  The loud squawking bird is gone so it's been peaceful and a good nights sleep was in order.

So last night, shortly before bed we heard the little bugger and then saw him over by a bamboo bookshelf just outside our bedroom.  At last, we thought, a chance to catch the little jerk and toss him outside (which would be to his benefit since there are many more bugs outside then in).

Mom and I grabbed the flashlight, broom, and dust pan and planned our attack.  I don't like hurting the little guys and I've learned from past Gecko missions that if you approach very, very slowly, you can almost grab them with your bare hand (key word - almost).

As I closed in with my Tupperware container, and when I was within mere inches, he dashed over to the bookshelf and seemed to vanish in thin air.  Armed with my flashlight, I search high and low, between books, on top of books, underneath each shelf, side to side.  No luck.

I then spotted the little rascal hanging on to the back side of one of the bamboo uprights.  Mom grabbed the flashlight, I grabbed the broom and we tried to coax him onto the wall so I could try my trap again.  This little guy was smarter than I gave him credit for and had a knack for moving just out of sight.  He never ran for his life so we could spot him on the wall, but instead he moved up, down, left, right just enough to be out of site.

I can't tell you how long this went on but we even went as far as carefully removing all the books from the shelf to eliminate hiding spots.  Same result.  Now we see him, now we don't.  It had become a challenge and after chasing it around in vain for 15 - 20 minutes, Mom declared that we had invested too much time to give up and be beaten now.

The battle ensued and now I was sweating profusely (It's kind of humid here).  Again, I search high and low, underneath each shelf, on top of each shelf, swished back and forth with the broom, side to side.  Finally after dodging me about 30 times, the little creep dropped to the floor and ran.

Alex had joined the pursuit but the squiggly little lizard snuck past him like a Viking's tight end, zagged when Mom and Alex zigged, and sure enough under the couch he went.  Well, somehow he shook his tail loose and as we moved the couch slightly forward, there was the little tail, all by itself just wiggling away.  A pretty clever tactic to get the pursuer to focus on the tail while the lizard itself escaped.

We tossed the tail outside for the ants and sure enough, the gecko was no where to be found.

We finally gave up, put everything back in its place and got ready for bed, exhausted, defeated, and me sweating like a pig.  So what happened next?  I shut off the light, turned to walk toward the bed and kicked toes first into the leg of a couch in our room.  Today my toe is black and blue and the Gecko still runs free to taunt us another day.

I heard him chirping nearby as I write this post.  Too clever for me so no more Gecko missions for a while.