Tag Archives: Geckos

Sriracha the Bengal tiger

Sriracha, a female Bengal tiger, paces at Pana‘ewa Rainforest Zoo in Hilo.

This week’s WordPress photo challenge is to choose your favorite photo taken in 2017. I’m going with a photo that I haven’t posted before (though below I offer a few of my favorites that have run).

This is Sriracha, a female Bengal tiger and cousin of Tzatziki, a white male tiger. Both can be found at Pana‘ewa Rainforest Zoo in Hilo. What I like about this photo is those huge paws, the quiet movement, and the sense of great power that could be uncoiled at any moment.

For more information about Pana‘ewa Rainforest Zoo & Gardens, go to hilozoo.org.

As far as favorite photos already posted are concerned, I offer a few here:

Top. A gold dust day gecko drinking from a bird of paradise flower is a blaze of color (posted here).

Second. This photo captures the awesome spectacle of the lava firehose from Kilauea Volcano pouring into the ocean (posted here). Currently, while the flow is still active, lava is no longer entering the ocean.

Third. I was happy to snap the moment a passion vine butterfly laid an egg (posted here). This was taken on the same day as the gecko photo above, so a banner day for me.

Fourth. I like all the photos in this post for their color and how they capture something of this most Hawaiian of dance (posted here).

Finally, I love this gargantuan blenny for its name, and was very pleased to get this photo, since the fish is apt to dart away and the shallow water was rocking (posted here).

A gold dust day gecko ponders refreshment on a bird of paradise

A gold dust day gecko sits on bird of paradise flower.A gold dust day gecko sits on bird of paradise flower.

Gold dust day geckos have a lot of character. They’re largely unperturbed by human presence, often just returning the gaze of the big-headed creature looking at them. If they do feel threatened, they’ll disappear in an instant, usually just running off, but sometimes hurling themselves into space before sticking to whatever surface they were aiming for.

I found this gecko on a bird of paradise flower. I like the cheeky grin above, then the look of contemplation, and finally the reward.

A gold dust day gecko drinks from a bird of paradise flower.

A stump-toed gecko goes for a ride

A Stump-toed gecko on a truck windshield.

For a recent hike, I got up at 4:15 a.m. in order to reach my destination when the gates opened at 6 a.m. I was about 10 minutes into the hour-long drive when I noticed something on the windshield. At first I thought it was a leaf that had lodged itself in the windshield wiper. But then I recognized that it was a gecko.

This isn’t an unusual event. Many times, I’ve been driving in daylight and seen a gecko emerge from under the hood, looking a bit stunned, and flapping in the breeze. In these circumstances, if I were a good person, I’d stop the vehicle, get out, and usher the gecko to safety. The problem is that, for the gecko, safety is usually back under the hood. That means, when I drive off again, I’m likely to see the gecko back on the windshield five minutes later. An hour’s drive could take two.

Sometimes the gecko will head back under the hood or shelter behind a wing mirror. In this case, the gecko hung on where it was. When I stopped at junctions and once, for a longer period, at a traffic light, the gecko stayed put. It says something to the amazing stickability of geckos that I’ve never once seen one flying off into space.

When I reached my destination, it was still there. I got out and took this photo. I’m pretty sure it’s a stump-toed gecko, which is nocturnal. It could also be described as a stunned gecko.

When I returned from my hike, a few hours later, the gecko was gone. It might have jumped off or gone back under the hood. Either way, it did not reappear during the drive home.

 

Gecko on a window

A gecko on a window showing its foot pads.

I’m constantly running in and out of the house because I’ve been distracted by something going on in the world of nature. I noticed this gecko on the outside of a window one night and rushed to get my camera. I particularly like the details of the underside of its feet, those miraculous pads that enable it to scoot around on any surface – up, down, or upside down.

I think this is a house gecko, but it could be a mourning gecko.

Gold dust day geckos slithering by

A gold dust day gecko slithers over a larger gecko.

I love watching geckos in their daily activities. This can vary from the comical – those goofy expressions, to the impressive – leaping into space and landing safely, to the disturbing – an adult swallowing a young gecko.

Then there are things, such as in the photo, that I don’t entirely understand. I watched as the two geckos approached each other thinking a display of aggression was on the cards. Instead, the smaller gecko slithered over the larger one. I don’t know whether this was part of a mating ritual or one of the ways the smaller gecko acknowledges the territorial rights of the bigger one.

 

Snake the gecko

A gold dust day gecko with a forked tail.

I first saw this gold dust day gecko in one of the pots on the lanai. It took me a moment to register that their was something different about it. When I did notice, I christened it Snake. Not sure whether the moniker is appreciated, but Snake continues to be an occasional visitor.