Southeastern Gekko now found in Kansas.

[NNadir]

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) -- There's a new creature crawling around Kansas. Herpetologists have confirmed that the Mediterranean gecko is taking up residence in the state, spreading north from the southeast United States over the past decade.

''We knew it got as far as Norman, Oklahoma, in the early 1990s,'' said Joe Collins, University of Kansas herpetologist. ''Well, it's here.''

And one is now on display at the Prairie Park Nature Center in Lawrence, feeding on crickets.

''Ours has been hiding under rocks in its cage since we got him,'' said Marty Birrell, the center's director. ''They are nocturnal, so we don't usually see them in the daytime.''

Collins said there were sightings late last year in Johnson County. He was asked in May about the gecko after someone caught the lizard, which Collins had previously seen and caught in Texas and Florida...

...The geckos are generally about 4 inches long and can blend in with their surroundings. Common in southern Europe and northern Africa, geckos probably arrived in Florida by way of ships, then migrated or hitched rides aboard vehicles to other states, Collins said.

''I didn't think they would make it this far north because it's too cold,'' Collins said. ''Apparently, the little fellows learned how to live outside during the summer and run inside during the winter and live off whatever spiders and cockroaches they can find in buildings.''

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-New-Gecko.html

[geomon666]

1. Don't hurt it.

It's trying to save you money.

[pansypoo53219]

7. new one here is the

green ash borer beetle. the sebra mussle isn't so grand either. and how are we dealing with that fucking snake-head fish? humans are so fucking STUPID. now we gotta spend how much to keep a damned carp outta the great lakes cause CHEEcago had to change the direction of their river.
it never fucking ends. at least we sent raccoons to germany.

[NNadir]

9. That joke was inevitable.

[geomon666]

10. Yeah I know.

Had to get it out of the way.

[LiberalEsto]

2. Will it eat those gigantic southern roaches?

I once saw a Texas cockroach and it was a monster. Anything that devours those is a Good Thing.

[NNadir]

3. The question in not whether it will eat Texas cockroaches.

The question is what native species was eating the Texas cockroach before the arrival of the Gekko?

This business is playing itself out repeatedly and it's been costing us vast damage.

One of our most important eastern trees, the tree that once dominated our eastern forests, the American Chestnut, was decimated by introduced species. If that were the only case, it would be merely tragic, but it is just one of thousands of such cases, and that is beyond tragic.

I also don't take it as a particulary good sign that a reptile species that is generally killed off by freezes is thriving in Kansas. I'm not sure that this is really totally a matter of tucking indoors for a small part of the winter.

[LiberalEsto]

4. As one whose roses get devoured by Japanese beetles

I heartily agree with you. I was recently in NJ and saw the devastation gypsy moths caused in the Pine Barrens. Here in Maryland you can see mountains of kudzu overtaking the native foliage alongside the Beltway.

[megatherium]

11. The American Chestnut was killed off by a blight,

an Asian fungus:
http://www.acf.org/Chestnut_history.htm

[NNadir]

5. Japanese beetles and gypsy moths are really, really bad ones.

Another one is the Asian Long horned bettle that threatens our poplars.

http://www.asian-longhorned-beetle.com/



I have raised my kids not to kill anything but I have instructed them if they ever see one of these bugs they should squash it immediately.

[NNadir]

6. Meant as a reply to post #4.

[Metta]

8. The times, they are a changin'.

:donut: :donut: