Yet another Asian house gecko in Belmont, Lake Macquarie, NSW

 

Juvenile Asian house gecko - Belmont, Lake Macquarie NSW

I was on my evening walk last night, and stopped by the public building where I've previously observed Asian house geckos in the last few weeks.  Thankfully it was a much cooler day.  Walking was actually pleasant again, as the humidity was far lower and the early evening was significantly cooler.  Likely the temperature was somewhere in the low 20 degrees Celsius. 

A sub-adult Asian house gecko was foraging under a light in the same spot as the previous two.  This individual is nearly twice the size of the juvenile I observed previously, so they are very definitely happily breeding here. 

Again, I only had my (failing) mobile phone with me, and I was able to grab a single voucher image from 20 feet away, before the gecko disappeared into the cavity next to its' head.  This gecko was surprisingly vigilant, reacting to my presence when I first stopped to scan the area - about 30 feet away.  I fished my phone out of my pocket and crept forwards, zooming in as much as I could.  I took one image before the gecko zoomed into the holes in the bricks next to its' head. No other geckos were active.              

Asian house gecko population is breeding

 It was hot & sticky day yesterday, (Friday 2nd Feb 2024) and the temperature reached a typical summer time mid-30's.  It was still in the high twenties and very humid that night.  My wife & I decided to take the girls for a walk as it had cooled enough to be tolerable, and we all needed to stretch our legs. 

We walked past the same building I observed the Asian house gecko in the previous post.  Naturally I checked to see if it was out, and instead there was small, likely 12 month old juvenile in the same place.  This gecko was extremely shy, and rapidly scurried into a crevice as soon as my torch beam touched him, despite being ten feet off the ground. Unfortunately, neither of us had our phones, so couldn't get a voucher photo - but it was unmistakeably an Asian house gecko and this record indicates they are definitely breeding here in Belmont. 

I'll drop past again later in the week while the warm weather keeps up, and see if I can get a decent photo. 

Addendum - I was working in the backyard this afternoon (Saturday 3rd Feb 24) and heard the unmistakeable daytime chirp of another Asian house gecko.  Further evidence that they are well established here now !         

Observation of the Asian House gecko, (Hemidactylus frenatus) in Belmont

 

Four years ago I observed an Asian house gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus) on our home here in Belmont, Lake Macquarie NSW.  Uploaded the record to the Atlas of Living Australia as it had a bit of importance at the time to document the invasion wave of this introduced species of reptile.  I was quite familiar with Asian house geckos as I spent some years living in Darwin in the NT - where they are absolutely endemic. 

I had been sporadically hearing their characteristic day-time chirp, and thinking "Hey ! That sounded like a bloody Asian house gecko (!?!?!?!?!) but can't have been because there are no records of them around here".  I figured it had to have been the call of some little SJB bird ("Small-Brown-Jobby" for the non-twitchers) that I have not learned yet.  Well, surprise !  There are records of Asian house geckos here now.      

That was four years ago nearly to the damn day.  I was walking my dogs last night and noticed my second specimen for this neighbourhood.  I grabbed a quick image with my phone to prove my identification.  Because of the poor lighting, the photos are very poor - but it is unmistakeably an Asian house gecko with a regenerated tail-tip, hunting under the lights of a public building near my home.

Although they are an introduced species, and carry risks of parasites & exotic diseases, I don't see this as a huge big deal.  They are exploiting an environmental niche not filled by anything else locally.  It is not like there are Lesueur's velvet geckos, Robust velvet geckos or broad-tailed geckos taking insects under the lights of buildings anywhere near here.  Sure, there will be small numbers in leafy remote suburbs like Martinsville, but I have lived here most of my life and NEVER seen a single native gecko hunting under lights in the Lake Macquarie area.  Asian house geckos will have an impact - as all introduced species of plants or animals do.  But at least they are not poisonous to our native fauna like cane toads are.  In fact they might help reduce the insect loads a little.  I guess we'll have to watch and see - there is no possibility of getting rid of them now.