The Creepies Who Live With Us
November 14, 2014 -- My friend Sharon recently wrote a post on Facebook about the lizard who lives in her condo. Judging from the photo she posted, I’d say her lizard is a “house gecko,” a non-native species that originates in Southeast Asia, or it might be a Mediterranean gecko, also a non-native. She calls him “Squiggles.” Similarly, we have a couple of native lizards called anoles living on our screened porch. The reason that Floridians like us permit little lizards to live in our space is that they eat bugs. Sharon’s Squiggles is eating no-see-ums (sand fleas) and little spiders. Our screen-roaming anoles eat no-see-ums as they try to squeeze through the “no-see-um screen.” Sharon asked her friends if she should put out a little bowl of water for Squiggles. The answer is definitely “yes”; the little guy will dry out and die if he can’t get any water in the condo. Our anoles are able to leave the porch via a space under the screen door, ...