How to Humanely Catch a Lizard or Spider - Or Not Now, I'm Too Busy For This

I have had a very packed morning.  Full of appointments, visits, and dog walks.

By the time I got back I was thinking that it's not going to be an easy one and I just needed to get on my way.

So why does this sort of thing happen just before it's time to leave?

Nature is having way too much fun today.  I ended up with a wee little lizard in the house.

These little things are about as long as your finger, and this one was no exception.  It also was one of the night time lizards which meant it shouldn't be stuck to the inside of my screen on the window. 

By stuck, I mean with wee little Gecko feet, but you get the idea.  No glue was involved.

I keep a couple of these cylinders around.  They get swapped out for new when I can find one.  In this case it is a repurposing of a mailer that my light blue cycle jersey came packaged in.

Gently open the window by sliding it to the left.  Shield the critter with the stripe of the window frame so it is less stressed out.  Cover the lizard with the cylinder - really any large glass would work but these plastic packing "waste" cylinders are much lighter.  Then slide a piece of a junk mailer under the lizard.  Close the window, walk the creature outside.

Except it liked being with me and jumped onto my hand instead of the Croton growing in the garden.  

A quick shake and it's gone back to it's lizardy life where lots of tasty insects live.

Bye little Lizard, we hardly knew ye.

The Dinosaur of M.E. DePalma Park

 

When you go for three dog walks per day, you do get to see a lot of things.

I always have an eye out for something, and living here you run into a lot more wildlife than I did when I lived up in Philadelphia.

The little park near the house, M.E. DePalma Park, is a nature preserve.  In the middle of it all is a giant copper butterfly that gives you a view down to the corner.

The butterfly is a chair for two, or more if you are particularly friendly, and it gives you a place to perch and watch the world go by.  Or let the world watch you.  It is a fairly quiet place, teeming with wildlife.  Flocks of Butterflies.  Squadrons of Dragonflies.  The occasional feral Duck.

And Lizards.

They're harmless, eat bugs, and are quite shy.  There is one that lives in a hole in a concrete plinth of all places.

This one was the size of my finger and decided it wanted to watch me as much as I wanted to watch him.

As we tried to leave the little park, the little creature kept a wary eye on us.  It seemed to hover there, changing positions as we did, beginning to walk down the garden path to go on our way.

It's all a part of the routine here.  Stepping over the Cashews from the tree, trying not to step on a little lizard, dodging puddles.  You have a dog, you have to walk, three times a day.  Sometimes you get to visit with wildlife, if they let you.

Cold is something different in South Florida

I heard that the weather turned up in the big cities.  

Cold, snowy, annoying get the shovel, drive slow, snow drifts in the North.  In fact they aren't alone, there were videos of large snowfalls in Europe as well.

It means something different here, especially if you are cold blooded.

Oh sure, we aren't talking about ice forming on the windows in South Florida.  Cold is relative.  You try living in a house with a heater that draws as much power as the hairdryer your sister had in the 80s.  The windows here were slats of glass that were designed to let in as much air as possible.  Then those Jalousie Windows would leak all 1200 watts of power when someone sneezed down the block and you would feel that draft.

I have a far... better word to use, but won't on this blog since I try to keep things as clean as possible.

Anyway, we've gone through one "cold" snap, and here is a second one.  When the big cities up North get hit, we shiver in the non-freezing cold.  

It may not freeze outside here, but you could be sure your milk would not spoil if you left it in the trunk of the car overnight.

Wandering around the yard looking to see where things were and whether I would have to set a tree in the pot upright, and I did, I spotted this little critter trying to warm itself on the fence before sundown.  These lizards have a habit of warming themselves all over the place in the sun until the last minute, and doing so stealthily.  

After all, the local birds would gobble them up in an eyeblink if they spotted it.

I personally don't chase lizards out of the house unless they are becoming a nuisance.  They don't make much of a mess, and if they are living in here, the amounts of insects that survive here won't be so great.  

As I have one more screen to patch on the windows, I will have to get my clear plastic cylinder that I dub the Lizard Transportation Device and carry one out to meet the one on my fence.  Harmless but I'd rather not have one drop on me from the corner.

Peekaboo, Lizard!

The thing about wildlife photography is you have to be at the right place and at the right time.

Or just scratch that and have things jump out at you.

I have a stand of Bamboo in the backyard that I keep using for "Things... Useful Things".  In this particular case, it is being used as a mount for some solar lights.

Solar lights are generally garbage now, the batteries don't tend to last because they are not using the right metal for a contact for the batteries.  That metal rusts and the lights die.  Or the UV in the sunlight over the years will cloud the plastic over the charging cell.

Crap.

But I was walking past the place where I had the mount getting ready to put the light on top when this little critter looked out to say hello.  

Note to self, don't leave an open spot at the top of a piece of bamboo if you don't want it colonized.  Lizards are fine, but red ants... noooo!
 

Godzilla Climbs Mt. Jeep

I don't bother these creatures.  I have transported lizards before and arrived with one looking at  me from a weird crevasse in the car.

I have a live and let live attitude towards Lizards.  Even these invasive Curly Tailed Lizards.

I figure if one gets into my Jeep and does not cause too much of a mess, and survives, I probably needed to set loose a pest spray inside the car.  They are finding food, shelter, and get enough water if they are there for more than a short visit.  

I don't care for pesticides myself.

I just have to say that it is a bit strange looking down into the car when I am inside the house and seeing those little eyes looking back at me. 

 

Now I have been told that we had lizards in Suburban South Jersey where I grew up but I never saw them.   Here in Suburban South Florida I know of two lizards that live in my Florida Room on a permanent basis. 

As a result I have markedly fewer insects invading my space.

I'll take a lizard over a mosquito any day.  It's a case of choosing your guests.  

Besides my hand gets tired flinging that tennis racket around.  The Tennis Racket Of Doom is strung with wires into which voltage is passed at the right current to vaporize what ever bugs are caught to create a circuit between them.  A brief snap, a flash, and that insect has gone to its next reality.

Even if that next life will not be a relation to me.

Lizard on a Hot Tin Roof

Up North in the Big Cities, if you find any wildlife indoors, you call an exterminator.

I don't mean pets, or your weird relatives, but "wildlife".

Non domesticated animals or insects.

Here, I've grown a bit more relaxed about that.

When I moved to South Florida, I remember being told a few "important things". 

Always bang your shoes out on the ground.
Check your bed for spiders.
Don't go swimming in a lake, there are gators in the water.


Ok, the Gator thing?  Yeah I believe it.  I was at a park in Dania Beach once and had to leave a dock because I saw a gator approaching.  I think it wanted to turn Lettie into its next meal.  She didn't know what to make of it and was getting agitated.

Trust in Dog, I got out of there.

But the shoes thing?  Nah.  At least not in my house. They were trying to throw a fear into me about scorpions.

Nine years later, I have seen exactly one scorpion and that was living outdoors where it belongs.

Now mind you, wildlife does get in.  We have killed more mosquitoes here than I care to count.  We've also got one of those cool tennis racket looking dealies that you press a button and wave through the air.  You see a flash and hear a "SNICK!" and the nasty girl is vaporized.

They're always female if they're trying to bite you.  Always.

Spiders?  Not if you make your bed.  Plus, like Constance says, the bed just LOOKS better if it is properly made.  You could bounce a quarter off that blanket!

On the other hand, there are my Lizards.  Typically they are Cuban Browns that get in, but there are also the pink Geckos that end up being seen right around dusk.

The Geckos get hungry and come out looking for food.

Hey, Geckos!  You're slacking.  Go after the mosquitoes and I'll even set up a habitat for you!

Don't laugh, there's a story I was told about people in New York City keeping lizards in the house like you and I do with dogs.  They run around and eat cockroaches.

If I see cockroaches, we call and have the house tented.  *shudder*.

But the Cuban Browns are everywhere keeping a watch over you.

I have never found them in my shoes, but they do get in the house.

For some reason people fear them.  I'm deeply entertained by them, and I think they know it.

Yes, I am the Lizard Whisperer.  Or something like that.

But tapping your shoe on the ground before you put it on?  Only if it was left in the closet too long.  Then you might have to worry about those spiders making a web in them.

Oh, in that case, they're most likely dead.  After all, a web in your Size 11 Boot won't catch many bugs to eat behind a closed door, will it?

They can't bite you, although if  you find an ornery one they will try.  They just don't have any teeth.  Just like Grandma, all they can do is gum their food.  Girls would catch them and get them to bite their earlobes to wear lizards as earrings.

I guess they tickled.  Silly girls.

Lizards in the Bougainvillea

Every morning, after breakfast, it's time for a wander out back.  I am never alone.  Usually by that time, Rack the SuperDog (TM) is ready for his final excursion of the morning.  He will have a full day of resting, napping, and generally watching me do my own thing until Lunch time when he tries for a morsel or two as a snack.

He usually gets some, I'm a soft touch.

Or so I have been told.

We will generally inspect the area.  He has his perimeter search and if there aren't any dreaded trash trucks in the neighborhood, he may even decide that he wants to romp a bit.

If not, I entertain myself with what goes on in the yard.  There are always gardening chores to look into.  The cutting pots must be watered.  Orchids will have to be looked after.  The Staghorn ferns probably have had their Spanish Moss tossed out of them and need to be picked up and set right. 

Generally it's a Quiet Before The Storm time of day.  The neighbors aren't usually rattling around, that's my job.  I'm the one up at stupid hours, so early that even Oscar the parrot goes back to sleep when I settle in.  Going outside is a chance to think about what needs to be done, and set out a plan for the day.

All the while I am being watched.

My friends that live back there, the lizards, watch over me.  Sometimes they're watching to avoid, other times they're actively looking for my attention.  Completely harmless, quite beneficial, and normally entertaining. 

I honestly think that I live in their house and they graciously allow me to remain here, at times.

But there they will be at that hour, recharging their solar batteries.  You would think that they are easy pickings out in the open like that, but I have never seen them molested.  I guess a creature smaller than your finger wouldn't be worth the chase to a larger bird.

They will hang there eating the ants off my palm tree that grew too close to the house.  The tree itself is on borrowed time since it's a hazard in a hurricane, but for now it will remain.  Its replacement was planted in the island in front of the house a year ago and is growing quite well, but this tree with the moss on the North Side will not remain in the long run.

Meanwhile, it provides an environment for my little Cuban Brown friends to hang upside down and dine and pose for the paparazzi that live there with them among the flowers.

As long as I don't get too close, I may even be able to enjoy a little time with them as well.  Even if this one leaves, there will be another one to take its place.  Too good a spot to pass up.

Orchid and Lizard

Late one afternoon, I took Rack, my faithful McNab superdog, out to the backyard for his pre-walk visit to the wormhole.

He went about his business.  Doing a perimeter search around the yard is important work for Rack. 

We did our dance.  My clapping hands peppering the yard with sounds of joy as Rack rounded the palm tree and over the spa, seemingly hovering in mid-air as he glided over top of it, long way around.

Then he disappeared to the other dimension where he keeps his alternate superdog family in that other galaxy on the other side of the wormhole.

The yard was silent, or as silent as South Florida ever gets.  The FEC doing an evening run on the tracks a mile off in the distance moaning as they approached then passed. 

The Neighbor's puttering in their garden getting ready for an oncoming birthday party.  Sawing and paint testing, the air was perfumed with pine bark mulch.

Chattering a yard over with someone discussing The Farm's Papayas and whether they were ready to be served on the table.  Fresh Papaya is a wonderful thing and if it were only one foot closer, some would be on my table as well.  None of that store bought stuff, this grows on a tree on our property line, just beyond the fence.

I settled on inspecting the irrigation lines.  The drip feeds need attention constantly.  Every single day one or another gets clogged as they dribble life giving rusty ground water into waiting roots.

Getting back to the orchid chain, I notice I am being watched.  Rack was still in his alternate universe.  This was a much smaller creature.  Descended from Dinosaurs, I spotted it.  A friendly Lizard.  Hiding in the shade under the leaf of my Phaleonopsis Orchid, I was being judged.  Threat Assessment.

I reached into my pocket, grabbed my camera, and got a picture.

The little blaggard moved.

I reset myself, took another picture.

The little rapscallion moved again.

"Annoying little creature, do sit still! I need to finish what I am on to."

It didn't care but I did get what I needed and let it on its own little way.  Rack had come back through the wormhole, sliding into the backyard at warp speed.  Gliding to a stop, feet widely spread out, he lay on the ground as if to say "Play! Now!  Resistance is futile".

Lizard, Guardian of the Rescue Pot

I went a bit nutty in the yard, but I didn't realize I was creating a habitat for lost dinosaurs.

The original use of the pots was to put what a snowbird thinks is appropriate for Florida.

Lemons.
Oranges.
Mangoes.
Bananas.
Hibiscus.

Lets see... the Lemons all died, the Orange got replanted in the front yard and is moping along.

The Banana tree is still there but it's so pot bound that the pot will split any day.  If it doesn't I may help it to.

(Did I say that in my outside voice?)

My Mango tree is happy, although it's a bit pot bound and in a stiff breeze it will topple over.  Since the winds come off the ocean rather steadily here, that's at least a twice weekly occurrence.

The Hibiscus likes the pots too much and overgrows everything.

I ended up pulling out all the dead plants and ended up with three pots.  I put milkweed in one for my pet Monarch Butterflies who eat them down to a stick.

The other two are my Rescue Pots.  Lisa's Pentas are in one, the other have a collection of cuttings.  Darwinian gardening rules states that what survives will get planted.

The pentas haven't stopped blooming.

The ruellias that I put in there in a clump are half-and-half alive.  Who knows about them.

They both have at least a bit of Podocarpus, Japanese Yew to the rest of us.

One is thick with it.  I figure some of it may indeed root.

I didn't count on them becoming wildlife reserves on a small scale.

Every time I go out there, my friendly lizards spot me.  They don't tend to run off, although there is a story with that.

Last weekend, I had to repot my Orchids.  Four pots, three of which had gotten too weak to survive.  Some were encrusted with mold and lichen, others with ferns.  It was hard to know where the orchids actually were.  One had no potting bark in them, and when I reached up to grab it, the pot fell apart in my hands.

They're basically popsicle sticks held together with wire in a square.

Two of them got a bed of Spanish Moss to hold the bark in and got rehung on the drip feed irrigation lines.

That third one.  I was walking back to the bar to repot my last one.  As I walk past the trees, I am pulling things out of them that didn't belong.  It was a cool morning, me flicking odd pieces of bark out at the pot chain, and I grab what I thought was a stick.

It wasn't.  It was a lizard's tail.  I pulled on it and out came a lizard from between the slats of the pot.  It didn't release its tail, but in shock, I did.  Since the concrete was warm, it trotted away quickly.

The things you find when you're out working in the yard!

So do think of the Lizards when you're out there.  They hide everywhere!

A Friendly Lizard

The other day when I wandered out of the house, I had no real agenda.  Bring the camera, be creative, have fun with it, and see what you find.

What happened was that things found me.

I walked into the little park near the house with Rack.  He walked deep into the cul-de-sac of a walkway and right up to the stone plinth that sits there. 

On the plinth there is a small piece of art.  A green copper butterfly that is held up on a shaft of what looks like wrought iron.  Some fool tried to remove it when the piece was installed and got frustrated.  In trying to remove it, the shaft was bent to an arc of about 90 degrees.  Luckily it was repairable, which is something I'd wager you can't do to that ne'er do well's karma.

I did notice that Rack was pointing out something on the plinth that wasn't normally there.   A Cuban Brown Lizard.

I am amused by these creatures.  Usually I'll look at them and they will dart off into a hiding place with me chanting the mantra of "Run! Gecko, Run", even though they aren't actually geckos.  They're really quite shy.  Their reptile brain sees a large human coming at them and fearfully thinks that it's time to go. 

In this case, the little creature was as interested in us as we were of it which accounted for the novelty of the situation.

I was able to use the camera and zoom into the little being's personal space and fire off quite a few shots.  I fully expected it to move off somewhere, but it just insisted that I do what I needed and try my best to record this encounter.

The plinth having that rough finish that we see around here frequently, has aged well.  The pits of the concrete were collecting tiny micro biomes for creatures to colonize.  The mildew that formed in them showed in the black accents on the North side of the craters, just like the moss will prefer the North side of a tree. 

Having gotten my last picture of the series, my little friend used one of those craters to have a drink of some collected dew that remained after the morning sunrise.  His reptilian brain not registering fear, he stayed put while I went on my way, leaving the encounter and the park behind.

Herding Dinosaurs or Just Curly Tailed Lizards

I step from the front door and see them.

They are new arrivals, crossing over one of the many bridges onto the Island City from neighboring towns.  Coming here within the last two years, they have pushed many of the other smaller lizards away.

More assertive, they don't tend to scramble away as fast as the Cuban Brown lizards, these are the Curly Tailed Lizards.

When the sun is up, they'll come out to bask on the driveway.  It's black, or at least it was in years gone by, more like a faded to charcoal grey. 

I can step a few feet from the door and they begin to pay close attention.

Finally one of them gets startled and begins to run.  I am herding dinosaurs again.  They run off the pavement in formation.  Almost always running to the South, almost always in the same formation, running away to the grass and cover.

I lift one of the tiles near my side garden and there is one of them that I had herded before.  It thinks it owns the place, even if I do pay my half of the mortgage.  In a flash it is running to the nearby fence and the security of the neighbor's yard.

Every so often one of them is a bit more bold than the rest.   It will stand there, daring you to come closer.  It is as if it thinks it can scare 225 pounds of Moose away with its mighty jaw. 

You are four inches long, more if you ever straighten that tail out, when you pay rent, you can decide where I go.

It tries to stare me down.

I reach into my pocket for the camera and squat lower. 

The lizard is doing nothing.  No pushups as if to say I am the buffest reptile of them all so fear my mighty tail!

I fire off a second picture. 

Not even a tail wag. 

We're both bored of the encounter at the same time.  I do not speak Lizardeze well, and it is afraid of my mighty size 11 shoe.

It walks slowly off into the distance, and I head on my way.  Encounter has ended, herding will be left to the future.

Don't Threaten Me or I Will Flash My Dewlap At You!

I can't say that these creatures were "here first".  Technically they were introduced and naturalized and pushed out some other lizards that were here before them.  It's a shame for those other lizards, but it is par for the course here in Overcast South Florida.

I've heard they are now being pushed out by the Curly Tails.  Curly Tailed Lizards which are twice as long and twice as thick and four times as assertive.

The Cuban Browns are entertaining to me.  Completely harmless, so much so that children would catch them and let them bite their earlobes to have Lizard Earrings for the few seconds that the scared creatures would hold on.

There you go little girl, have a chomp from my mighty toothless mouth as I wiggle my feet and flash my dewlap at you!  I am the fearless descendent of the great Dinosaurs and you shall respect me!

Not so much for my friend here.  I did my daily run around the backyard looking at my almost dead lemon tree in the pot line and pulling weeds from the mango tree.  Taking time to shamefully look at the banana tree that is so pot bound that the next time it falls over the pot may burst in relief and the tree will walk the two steps to the East saying "I'm Free! I can taste the sweet soil again after these horrible people kept me in prison!".

To which the Mango tree says "Try being me!  I'm over six foot tall and I fall over every time a shower comes through like a child's toy!".

We really do have to decide to create a small garden for these things.  Pots don't work.  You never get enough fruit, even though I was getting enough lemons for a while to make homemade lemon curd from them.  I'd have a chicken in the yard too if it weren't for that they're noisy and I'd get yelled at by code enforcement for having a farm in myback yard in the city!

Fresh Eggs anyone?  Maybe I need to move to Key West for that?  Conchs have all the fun!

Walking out into the yard is an experience.  You never know what you will scare off that is reptilian.  Most of what is back there is completely harmless, even the black racer snakes that keep the rodents away.  Live in harmony with nature and you will be better off for it. 

Stepping onto the Lanai, I have to look.   Rack generally will follow me out the door then go off and sniff the air.  If there is a storm within 10 miles, he'll hear it and try to herd me back inside.  I'm too deaf or just plain human to hear those rumbles that are off shore between us and the Bahamas.  But he does and doesn't like them at all.

At the right time of day, the lizards are on the pool deck catching the morning sun.  Cold blooded creatures need to warm up just like that cup of tea you have.  They'll run away in great herds of lizards like Raptors in a movie after prey.  More likely they're just off to the grass so they don't get trodden on by great size 11 sneakers.

Having inspected the pot line, the irrigation, and considering where to put the Hibiscus that is in the pot that now has gone taller than I am by a few inches with that one red flower at the top which will wilt by tomorrow morning, I return to my friend the brown lizard.   It hasn't moved.  It's still watching me.

Goodbye Lizard.  Catch some mosquitoes while you are there.  There are plenty for you.

Green Lizard, Green Wall, Green Tree

We had just had a rather excellent pizza.

That in itself is the exception and not the rule here since most pizzas will get it close, but not right.

Add to that that I have almost always gotten what they call "Counter Pies" and individual slices.  That means they made the pie, then slice off a slab and re-heat it before serving.  It gives a crispier crust, and that is what I expect.  If the crust won't stand on its own and droops when you go to eat it, it wasn't right.

We had discussed the ongoing things in town, our own lives, and the rest of whatever came to mind, and waddled out of the place.  I had three slices that would serve as a meal and a half later when needed.

Chatting our way East, or North depending on your point of view, on Wilton Drive, I was stopped, abruptly.

Hey look!

At what, there's a lot to look at.

The Lizard!

I thought: There are a lot of lizards here in town, we're used to them.  They amuse me but...

Which Lizard, it's got to be...

That one over there, it's different.  It's GREEN!

I could hear the stressing of the color in capitals in his voice.  Kevin isn't prone to doing that.

I hope it isn't another damn iguana.

I saw it, not so much for what it may or may not have been, but for the studies of color that it presented.  Green Lizards here seem to be either Iguanas, or Carolina Anole Lizards.  The Carolinas are much more rare.  The Iguanas are an invasive pest that turn my plants into a salad and give nothing back.

These Carolinas were more common until the Browns or Cuban Browns moved in and pushed them up into the trees.  They are so rare that when I see a green lizard, I stop and take notice since they seem out of place.

Here was this critter, holding onto the wall around 5 feet above the ground, in clear view of The Drive.  I guess that The Gables have created a micro climate for this comparative rarity to do well enough that it felt the need to go exploring on the busier side of the building, right behind the screw palm.

Knowing that I had my camera with me, Kevin pointed it out.  Once I stopped being confused, I started taking pictures.   The little creature kept me in view the entire time and watched to make sure I didn't get too close.  Having a proper optical zoom is important, you can stand 10 feet away and zoom in tight.  Thankfully the Automatic Focus on the camera didn't foul up all the shots.  As much as I like Screw Palms, I would prefer not to have a collection of a dozen or so perfect pictures of a plant with a fuzzy lizard out of focus in the back.

Even after living here for 8 years, I am still amused by the lizards here.   I never saw them in South Jersey, and while some people around me insisted that we could find newts and salamanders around, you couldn't prove it by me.

Now, I go out into the yard and have to be careful or else I may step on a lizard.  Discovering one on my ceilings is a monthly event.

Best way to deal with that is "Catch and Release" and let the little thing go do what it's supposed to - collect insects that may try to get in my house.  After all, this isn't a big city apartment.  In some places people will get lizards, typically geckos, and simply let them roam free in their house.  If that house is an apartment building, it's an effective way to get rid of roaches.

Just leave a little water out and they'll do fine.

Since we don't have roaches, but merely the occasional termite, moth, or black racer snake, we tend to relocate lizards outside and we do so gently.  After all, I'm entertained so I may as well treat them right.

The Attack of the Monster Lizard of South Florida - Picture

Just when you thought it was safe to return to your kitchen, they have returned. 

The Monster Gecko Lizards will climb your glass.  They will eat pesky bugs like moths and termites.  They will look at you while you make tea and coffee. 

They are coming!

Of course they are coming.  Hurricane Barbara washed itself out over Mexico last week, and the remnants have been parked over top of Key West and spread out through South Florida since then.  All that rain has made for a great environment for strange creatures like gnats and mosquitoes to come out and make whoopie all over the place.   The birds are dining and so are the lizards.

Besides, these lizards are completely harmless.   There's a game among the children to catch a lizard and have them bite their earlobes to have lizard earrings.

Not exactly the nicest thing to do to these shy creatures, and besides, just what do you wear to match  lizard earrings?  Alligator Shoes?  Snakeskin wallet? 

When they come to visit the kitchen, I know my wood will be better off.   A nice meal of bugs and crawly things means less damage to the house.

Our Lizard Farm

Part of having a puppy, especially a shy or fearful one is getting them used to everything that life will throw at them.

In my case, while I have an almost blank slate, I also have a dog that is afraid of pretty much anything.  That is to say, at least he is afraid of anything that makes noise.

One step at a time, they say.  Divide and conquer, they say.  There's a big world out there, they say. 

So lets explore.

I did manage to get him outside after his panicking at the big evil scary sliding back door that made a racket on its tracks.  Once his nose is out the door, Rack seemed to take the yard in style.  It gave me an excuse to let him sniff around and do a little weeding.

This is South Florida after all.  Blink and your yard has new growth.  Blink again and the weeds are putting out a cheery carpet of white and yellow flowers, shamrocks with their lavender blooms, and plants that people in colder climates keep in their homes and offices.  

Yes, I have philodendron growing in my back yard as weeds, don't you?

Wandering around the yard, I was accompanied by my little black and white dog.  Picking up weeds as I go, pulling vines, and generally having little effect, I realized that I needed to get into the shed for the nippers.  The Bougainvillea was growing again after having been beaten back and it threatened to grow its tendrils into the spa.  Magenta flowers are beautiful, but you do need to get past that wall of blooms to get anywhere in the yard.

Opening the door to the shed, there was just enough noise to make Rack back off and assume his sitting position.  He does that when he's overwhelmed, whether he's in the back yard or in the middle of an intersection.  Definitely something to work on, at least he's not barking at whatever is scaring him.

We had taken Lettie's old crate out of the shed and given it to the animal themed thrift store.   It created a big hole that the detritus of life hadn't filled in yet, so I was able to step inside and see an area of the shed that was invisible before.

Meaning to clean the shed out but realizing that there are always more pressing things to do when you own a house, I noticed that there was a row of little pearls on my workbench.

Those pearls each contained a developing lizard.

Since I get so much entertainment watching these little creatures go about their reptilian lives, I left the row alone with a smile. 

Yes, I'm going to be a Lizard Daddy!  Congratulate us, it's a boy, and a boy, and a boy, and a girl, and a girl...  They will have their own house and call it Lizardvania, the home under the Sea Grape Tree.

It's all part of living in South Florida.  You live with wildlife, regardless of how you feel about it.  Blink and your gardens are overgrown.  Ok, My gardens are overgrown, Your gardens may not be.  You will have lizards, and black racer snakes, and visits from the Opossums and Racoons, and it's all normal.  You will get used to it.

Just so long as there aren't beady little eyes watching me in the spa from the utility easement at the back of the yard, I'm OK with it.  This is because when I'm in the spa I'm not dressed for guests!

The 6AM Gecko Hunt

We were out for a walk that morning.  The sun hadn't yet risen completely and the morning clouds were lit a brilliant red from below. 

I was standing at the foot of the drive looking at the spectacle when I began to be pulled toward the front door by Mrs Dog.  Half asleep, not having had the first of my coffee, I was surprised at her insistence.  Something was amiss and we had to get to that front porch and do it quickly.

By the time I had rounded the car and navigated past the planter, I saw a dark flash retreat as the lighting came up to full.  I wasn't quite sure what little critter was hiding in the door jamb but I had my suspicions.

Mrs Dog knew right off the bat, it was her old archenemy, the Gecko.

I pulled out my flashlight and focused the beam to the broadest setting.  That meant that instead of it being a pin spot, the equivalent of a 75 watt light bulb was spread broad so it wouldn't completely blind the creatures of the night.

Spotting the tail of the little pink lizard hanging over the top of the door, I knew that I would have to try to convince it to move or else there'd be another inhabitant of the living room today.

Stepping back to the garden, I found a leaf that had fallen from the screw palm and used it to tickle the Gecko.   It didn't work.   They're very shy creatures and they usually try to hide.  I've had them try to hide on my legs and head up into my shorts before so I do know what I'm talking about.

Thankfully they're more amusing than anything else.  No teeth so even if you do find a particularly cantankerous lizard, it's harmless.  I'm told little girls will get them to bite their earlobes sometimes to have Gecko Earrings, but I have never seen that first hand.

Without trying to harm this little pink creature, I knew that I would either have to be more aggressive with my Screw Palm Leaf Weapon, or just open the door and hope that when it's deciding to move, it's going to move out and not in.

Fifty Fifty Shot, right?

At this point things began to happen quickly.

The door opened slightly. 

The dog had never lost sight of where the creature was. 
She may be old, have dodgy kidneys, and a weak thyroid, but her eyes are perfect.

Hearing the bark was the first thing that told me that the Gecko had moved.  

Feeling it hit my forearm first, I began to recoil slightly, being startled.

The Gecko didn't like that and bounced onto the door.

Now, the dog was jumping at the door as the little translucent creature was running away.   Right into the door jamb.  This time it was behind the hinges.   It's little pink brain furiously looking for an escape from the insistent dog and the curious human, it ran to the highest hinge. 

I could have closed the door and been done with the predawn drama, but that would be needlessly cruel. Besides, these creatures give me an enormous amount of entertainment simply by their being around.

I bent down to unlatch the dog from her harness, and gestured for her to go indoors.   She did but that merely gave her a view of the gecko in the morning gloom.

BARK!

Shaddap Dog you'll wake the neighbors!

Wielding the almost forgotten Screw Palm leaf, I tickled the gecko again.  It had the common sense to run away from the leaf and around the door to the outside.  Blocking the dog who was trying to get a purchase on the floor and looking like Wile E Coyote, Super Genius, I quickly shut the door.

Drama averted, nobody harmed except the dog who finally collided with the door with a soft thump.

Time for Coffee everyone, nothing to see here, lets move on!

So, how did you start YOUR day?

Scorpions in the Garden?

I remember when I first visited Florida on my own, I was warned to shake out my shoes in the morning. 

You were told that they were rare but sometimes you can find a Scorpion in the house just like in that old article from the TV station.

I only ever saw a few of them, mostly on the first visit to Key West, and then they were dying as they floated into the skimmer of the swimming pool. 

Yes, Florida, a place named after Flowers by the Spanish has strange wildlife.  

We have flocks of Parrots that people have had escape.  I walk outside with the dog and can expect to hear noisy groups of Cherry Headed Amazons fly by.  I can whistle and call to Cockateils and they will call back.

Curly Tailed Lizards were here, and like the Iguanas, were frozen out of the trees on the last cold snap.  But they're back, and in my back yard as well.   They have an attitude too.  The little Geckos and Cuban Brown Anoles that entertain me with their dewlap that is a red and brown checkered flag will scatter if you get too close.  No teeth either so if they're threatened the worst you can get is a good, sound, gumming.

The Everglades have escaped Ball Pythons that are threatening native species because they are so prolific and aggressive.  Luckily they aren't in my yard, the Black Racers are though so I have to watch for those when I attack the brush with the weedeaters.

The Black Racers are very timid and will race away if they spot you so they're harmless unless cornered.  They are native, just like the Scorpions.

I had thought that we didn't have Scorpions here in Wilton Manors, but apparently it's only because I'm not looking for them.  I have spotted exactly one since I have moved here.  That was one day, one Scorpion, and it lived in the gap under the sidewalk near the shopping center.

Yes, they're here even if I'm not able to find them, and I don't particularly want to find them.  A lobster is one thing, they can pinch but won't sting.  A Scorpion will sting with the power of five bees, and I'm terrified of bees.  The rest of the critters, I'm fine with, but a beehive will send me running.

Never did like bees.  Nasty little...

I'm not completely sure why all the sudden Scorpions are being mentioned by people I know.  Maybe it's just the circle of friends I have.  I've been hearing folks tell me to watch for them and are wringing hands about maybe possibly getting stung.  Personally, I haven't seen one in over 3 years so I'm more amused than concerned.  But next time as I am outside enjoying the Florida Sun, and the Florida Florid Plants, I've got to look to make sure I'm not stepping on a Scorpion.  I hear they can get aggressive too. 

Just as long as they leave the dog alone.  They're welcome to those nasty looking toads that will poison things too... they come out when the rains hit but luckily they just stand there looking stupid.   You usually see those pounded into leather on the pavement by a passing Toyota.

I Am Lizard, King Of The Tennis Ball Mountain

After walking to the kitchen for an unscheduled snack, I found my picture of the day. I really didn't intend for today to be a picture but this was as good as any.

I was listening to Vivaldi's Four Seasons on the headphones after walking the trash out to the bin and found myself looking in the refrigerator.  After having a small handful of Moosemunch... no really, only 10 pieces.  Very small handful.  Honest!  Yes, they named it after me!  Who else?  (Smirk)...

I looked out my kitchen window and saw this lizard looking back at me.  The usual Cuban Browns and the proper pink Geckos that live in my yard are very shy and will run away, so I grabbed my camera not expecting the shot.  This being a Curly Tail, it stayed put.  They're noticeably more bold than the others.  It stayed there being King of the Hill while I got a picture through the window, opened the window, then got another shot. 

Walking over to the back door I laughed at myself silently thinking I may be able to convince it to stay put.

Nope, not that bold, that second shot wasn't going to happen, Mr DeMille was not going to get his close up.  Sure, I could use a digital SLR but they don't fit in my cargo pants... however if you have one around make sure you don't need it since I'll put it to use.

Begging for cameras aside, it dove into the bucket as soon as I was framed by the back door. 

In for a Penny, In for a Pound, I say!

Opening the door I walked over to the little bucket full of tennis balls and took them out one by one.  The balls are there so the dogs can play with them, although my own Lettie is too old to care now.  Taking them out one by one, there were around 20 left.  When I got to the last three, my little lizard was getting unhappy with me and decided that it was time to hide.

Scrabbling around the bottom of the bucket the little guy ran around circles until it literally flung itself out onto the bar.  

Sorry, no beer served at 10 in the morning!

It must have been disappointed in my lack of bartending skills as it did pushups on the bar while glaring at me then diving off into the Hibiscus on the deck.

Never a dull moment when you have to take the trash out!