Tag: gecko

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general

it was a salamander newt, not a gecko!

Red-spotted Newt, Eft Stage (Notophthalmus viridescens viridescens)

Red-spotted Newt

Most newts are aquatic, but some species, including the red-spotted newt, have a juvenile terrestrial stage (the “Eft” stage) where they hang out on land for a few years, before they transform into sensible adults and go back to the water. The reason the red-spotted newt comes in pretty colours is to warn predators about the toxic mucus its skin produces (nice – isn’t that always the way). And apparently “the efts are found on the forest floor after rains”, which would explain why we kept nearly walking on them on our way down.

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climbing general trip reports

yes you did, you invaded poland

Weekend at Old Rag… Early morning pancakes, lots of sun, hiking up the mountain like little pack mules, loaded down with climbing gear, sweating like crazy, gloriously evil granite crack climbs, thunderstorms and rain at the end of the day, soaking wet trekking down off the mountain through brilliant green landscape, bright orange geckoes lazing on the road, cooking dinner sitting on the ground next to the ute, dragging aching legs to hike out to a campsite, collapsing in the tent and melting into the ground with exhaustion … fun :)

vegas on a boulder at old rag

Now excuse me while I go and throw my laptop out of a window. It will not stop crashing… and crashing… and crashing. In fact it won’t even get through startup without crashing now.

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general

geckoes

I got some photos of my geckoes from my flatmates. Including the new baby gecko, which as you can see, looks like a bit of a freakish large headed thing. It’s still pretty little though.

baby gecko

One of the other geckos (Copernicus I think) playing on the exciting climbing equipment.

hex gecko

The phases of cricket-hunting

We’ll skip the bit where the geckoes run around in circles, unable to notice the crickets, and sometimes lie there while the crickets run over them.

Here we have: gecko aware that there are crickets in the cage. Attempting to stalk them. But cannot actually see the cricket, so is stalking thin air. With fierce determination.

gecko

And moving onto gecko saying “Aha, Mr. Cricket, my evil nemesis, soooo, we meet again!”

gecko

This can be following by 1) the gecko biting the sand near the cricket, and running around with a mouth full of grains of sand for a while. Or 2) managing to bite the cricket, and running around with bits of cricket sticking out either side of it’s mouth, as desperate attempts are made to swallow the meal instead of letting it get away. It’s a fine line.

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general

gecko

fat gecko

A fat and exotic looking gecko I spotted pathside while climbing in the Grampians. He sat long enough for a photo, then something in my precariously balanced pack fell to the ground, and he ran away. Not to be disloyal to my geckoes, but he did look very pretty.

Washington DC update – Still no word on plane tickets, so not sure when I’m going.
Weather update – Hot. My weather pixie has actually stripped down to a singlet. Jumping in a pool tonight.
Woody update – Construction hasn’t started yet.
Weird behaviour update – Saw a lady walking down Rathdown St in Carlton, wearing black one-piece swimmers and a bright pink towel. This was not an area where you’d usually see people walking around in bathing attire. It was not a particularly hot day. It was odd.

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general

hmmm, to dreadlock or not to dreadlock? meanwhile, cats and geckoes do not mix. while i was away, the cat that has been living in my house jumped on top of my gecko cage, bending down the wire of the cage, and allowing either 1) geckoes to escape; or 2) cat to eat geckoes. thankfully the same thing didn’t happen to the other tank of geckoes, who are living a life as refugees, after a narrow escape from death at the claws of at cat in their own original home.