It sure is nice to have the Elephant Plains camera back up and running after its latest bout with the weather and electrical issues. But during the down time it appears a little critter adopted the camera as his private viewing spot.  Mr., or Ms. Gecko keeps peeking in at us while the camera operator, or zoomie, tries to find us a few critters out across the plain.  Sometimes he stays very still on the lens cover; perhaps thinking that big eye behind the cover is watching him.

We can see his “sticky feet” trying to hold on as he slowly slides down the cover. The gecko is found on nearly every continent, and is very distinguishable by those sticky toe pads that give him the ability to move around on both rough and smooth surfaces. They make chirping sounds when interacting with other geckos, and seem to have a genuine respect for each other. The gecko doesn’t give birth to live offspring; instead she lays eggs in hidden upright areas, even on walls.  Mom gecko leaves them and off she goes, never checking on them again.  The Sri Lankan gecko share breeding nests amongst themselves and can produce eggs without the help of the male. Some geckos, the four clawed species in particular, are known to loosen their skin when a predator grabs them in hopes of fooling the predator into thinking it’s been dead for awhile. One of the geckos commonly seen in Kruger Park is the Spotted Thick Toed gecko; she will lay two hard shelled eggs that take 100-120 days to incubate before hatching. Is our little friend a female or male? We may never know unless it chooses to lay eggs on the cam cover...for now we’ll just watch until it tires of sliding and worrying about the cam moving.  Enjoy this video of the gecko; it will make you want to put your hands under the camera to catch him as he slowly slides down.  http://www.africam.com/wildlife/mrgeckocantholdstill

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