Revenge of the Skink

At times my home feels like it is one step above a screened in porch. The openness does provide a welcome breeze, but it also provides for the entry of many "pets" into my abode. I don't really notice the small bugs or even the ants, unless the ants are marching away with some food on the counter. Cockroaches can be a problem, I only find one perhaps every other week, not too bad, right? To be honest, for Samoa, I do not have a bad insect problem. One of the reasons is my favorite pet - the Gecko.

You might remember him from the Geico Insurance ads - while the gecko on TV can save you a lot on your car insurance, mine just runs up my walls and poops all over the place. But it does eat bugs. I would rather have the poop then the bugs. It also laughs at me from time to time. The geckos make some strange noise, and I swear it sounds like a little laugh. I think they do it right before they poop on my TV. oh well.

Gecko poop on my coffee table.

I also have another gecko like animal in my house - a skink. Related to the lizard family, it is like the gecko that grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. I would not want to meet up with one in a darken alley.

I don't go after them cause they go after the big bugs. However, I think the skinks are after me. About a week ago, I had a mouse in the house. After living in DC for ten years, Samoan mice are cute hamsters compared to the DC rats that could mug people on the street. Those guys were mean suckers. Regardless, I did not want a mouse running around my bedroom. I put two glue traps down. The box sad it was a humane way to kill mice, but is it more humane for me or the mouse. How does the guy met his maker on a glue trap? Suffocation, starvation, heart attack? Well, I caught the mouse in a few hours. I left the other glue trap down in case he had a friend. Sadly, I caught a skink. Unlike the mouse, the glue trap did not kill the skink. I attempted to get the skink off the trap, but that went no were fast. Screaming like a little girl when the thing moved did not help matters. I actually had to get my friend Nate to place the trap and skink in a plastic bag and put it in the trash outside. Out of sight out of mind. Well, that worked until a few days later his friends came looking for him. Normally, you only see one at a time. That day, three of the guys were lurking around my place. Not good. I tried to tell them it was an accident, but I am not sure that they bought it. Wish me luck.