Spider, and Lizards, and Snails - Oh My! (Part Two)

Flash forward forty years to 2010. I have lived in Texas for 39 years. In all of that time, my world has been free of geckos. I had just about put all the terror of my three years in the hell hole others call Hawaii behind me. Late one evening, I went out to the garage to turn on the sprinkler system. There on the wall was, you guessed it, a horribly ugly little tan rubbery looking gecko!!! I came screaming into the house and declared, "I will not put up with those stupid ugly geckos again. Never, I tell you. I thought I was done with those in Hawaii. They have followed me over here all these years later." My husband just looked at me like I had grown two heads, but he knew better than to say anything. He had heard that tone of voice before and he knew I meant business - deadly business.

I had made up my mind that there would be no geckos in or near my house. If I saw one, I was going to go after it with a vengeance. And so, my latest saga began. It was war and we would be taking no prisoners.

So far, any gecko that has made it in or near my territory has been dealt with swiftly and without any feelings of remorse. I will not be terrorized again. I am older, wiser, and have no problem defending my turf. Fortunately, these geckos are much smaller than the ones in Hawaii. A fly swatter will render them stunned and then they can be tossed out the door. That's how the summer of 2009 went.

Now, it is the summer of 2010. And, little did the geckos know, but I had acquired a secret weapon. One guaranteed to be even more deadly than I had been. One that was pretty much foolproof and even falls into the category of poetic justice. One that has no feelings of guilt, but only a prehistoric predatory drive to kill anything that it sees as prey - oh, such as a tiny lizard.

The names of this secret weapon are Kalissa and Dulci, two seal point Siamese cats. I didn't know exactly how they would react if they ever saw a lizard or anything else for that matter in the house. For all I knew, they might run and hide, or worse, just look at the intruder with slight curiosity. Last night was the test. I came walking out of the bedroom and saw the cats sitting in a curious position in the hallway. They were crouched down and both looking in the same direction. Then suddenly, both their heads started going back and forth like they were watching a high speed tennis match. I thought maybe they were tracking a mosquito or some other flying insect.

Then I saw it. A small tan, almost transparent gecko had wedged itself into the crevice between the edge of the carpet and the wall, but they knew it was there. It moved slightly, and the cats were on it in an instant. Thus began the cat and "mouse" game. It would be still and they would wait. It would move and they would pounce. They were totally engrossed in this new "toy" that also stirred the ancient predatory instinct in them. They finally got it to the edge of the wall and it ran about 3 inches before they were once again on it - pawing it like a toy. Finally, worried that it would somehow escape under some furniture, I made my husband go get the fly swatter and put the thing out of its misery. I had to hold the cats back so they wouldn't eat it, but they were more than willing to finish it off. My secret weapon had proved itself to be worthy of any intruder. I felt thrilled and triumphant. I had the upper hand. It was 40 years coming, but I would not be denied my victory.

So, this is a public warning to any geckos that are silly enough to venture into my house. Not only do I have a fly swatter and I am not afraid to use it, I now have my own furry version of The Terminator. To all of you geckos out there, let this cry ring in your little lizardy ears, "We'll be back."