I left base camp early on the second morning, and occupied myself until midday by navigating a slow circuitous route across the Fingertip Ridges…
… the route, although tedious and time-consuming, would place me advantageously for my final assault on Big Index the next morning…
Reaching the peak at last, I stared down into the Palm Valley below, now an impossibly small tableaux of villages and farmlands where once I walked as but one among multitudes, yet now alone in the giddy horror of true isolation…
Because it’s there, Sarah G.
Yodeling… Wahahaha!
(Hey, Exploder remembered me! Huzzah!)
And to think.. It only took him 15 minutes… oh wait…
I am not normally a lizard person, wait..I have a tattoo of a gecko…I guess I am a lizard person!
Anyway, I was going to say that is almost as cute as my kittens!! ;0)
The conquering of Mount Hand is upon us!
What is that, a gecko? A baby gecko? Mini gecko? So cute. I want a gecko. But the feeding crickets part I don’t like. I’m not fond of insects.
why can’t I see comments unless I first leave one??
Thats not a gecko, I don’t think…but I know I’ve seen it somewhere before…maybe california and arizona?
Sir Edmund Lizardy.
Mounthand-climbing lizards? So, what else is newt?
That last picture was scary…I’m afraid of heights.
Love the tiny lizard. I had a close encounter with one in Disney World once when I was holding on to a slide ladder and one bit my finger. I think he was hiding in a hole in the ladder and I must have covered it and it attacked. I didn’t even realize what it was until I saw it lying on the ground. I must have shaken him off and the poor thing was kinda dazed, but he eventually came around and scampered away. It was so cute, just like this little guy.
I believe this is an anole. Looks like a tiny version of the one I had.
I just want to know what happened to the little lizard sherpa.
Nice deck chairs in the background! And the railing-thingy makes me wonder–was this taken on a ship?
Oh, and the little lizard is absolutely adorable.
I want toe-hance! Lookee them toes! Sure looks like an anole to me too, Kw. I remember when I was little, we had one, and he used to roam around the house and I’d play hide-and-seek with him…he usually won
BostonBunny – That’s a cold-blooded comment. Can’t you see he’s scaling new heights?
eets so qte and leetle! I lurv heem!
Where would someone find such a teensy leezard?
SqueeeeeeeZard!!!!!!!!!
Squeeeeeeeezard!!!
Noelle, I had a similar encounter with a gecko in my Dad’s house in Florida. He was hanging by the jaws from my hand, but his little mouf was so tiny, I could hardly feel anything. I put him outside, and I told him how skeered I was of him. I hope he felt better then.
If you have to handle a wild lizard, folks, remember to wash your hands thoroughly afterwards. They carry salmonella.
PS Look at those LOOOOOOOOOONG, spindly toes!!
I’ve been lurking for pretty much ever, but never commented because everybody else’s comments were made hours before I even got to the site, so I figured why bother, no one will see anything I write. Then today when the lizard showed up in the middle of the day, I got all excited and commented. I was puzzled when the time shown was 11:14, as it was quarter past two here! Then suddenly the penny dropped and I realized: OOOOHHH, that’s West Coast time. Now that I get it, I can join the gang! WOOHOOO!!1! I feel like I know all you guys, so this realization and the prospects it holds truly makes my day–no, week. Month? Yeah…. So, like–hi!
PPS I just set up my first wireless network ALL BY MYSELF!! Am I a big girl, or what?
[So when I drive by your office later with my iGadget, I won't find an unsecured wi-fi named "Linksys", right? - Ed.]
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Feeeeeeeeeeeengers!
I love the feets!
PPPS: VAL-DER-EEEEEEEE! VAL-DER-AAAAAAAAA! VAL-DER-EEEEEEEE! VAL-DER-AAA-HA-HA-HA-HAHAHAHA!
He picked a lizard shaped booger out of his nose! Impressive!
Congrats, Theresa! I am impressed. (Seriously. Because I can’t even hook up the cable wires without a map and full directions. And somebody else to do it for me.)
Jezebel, ewww! LOL!
And welcome, skippymom!
Oh crap, teho, disregard my email…now they’re both up there…slightly different and making me look like a weirdo. Oh…wait…i just remembered where i am.
DKN — you know, I hadn’t even seen your email yet. (Look again.)
AuntieMame: thanks for welcoming me! I was (sniff) hoping somebody would. I’m just so (sniff) happy to be here.
@skippymom
Welcome to non-lurkerhood.
It took a while for me too.
There are some lovely people here at CO.
Enjoy!
As for the lizard, great pics + great writing!
More lizard content on CO is nice!
Jezebel– the LIZARD picked a LIZARD-shaped booger??? Are we talking something like lizard-booger-fractals here??? (boggling)
(waving handkerchief at SkippyMom)
nomtom, that is profound, ya know???
what to say? hmmm. must think.
whatza anole? a reptile or an amphibian? isn’t a gecko an amphibian?
am I an amphibian? that’s a fun word. not as good as morsel, though….
love the little lizzy. i used to play with them in miami beach growing up. those captions were awesome, NTMTOM!
Thanks for teh fixing!
Huff! Oops, I inhaled him!
Ohmy,
He is adorable!
There is nothing I dislike about this post. And the story… It’s like a “Touch of Zen”. I just like everything about this post.
Your commentary (as usual) is hilarious!
PS I am enjoying my calendar every single day!
I claim this finger for… MOTHER RUSSIA!!!!!1!!!
wannadance – I’m not an expert but geckos are definitely reptiles and so are anoles. But I think anoles have long slender toesies like this little lizard whereas geckos have sticking pads on the ends of their toes. I’m sure there are other differences too, I think maybe geckos have wider faces. I think. Can anyone correct me here?
Hiya, skippymom! Is skippy a furry friend?
Arthur Lizard 1 and Arthur Lizard 2.
@Nancy: Monty Python for the win!!!
(And here’s the skit she’s cleverly referencing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0tuw3NxbqE )
“Everest– Forbidding. Aloof. Terrifying. The mountain with the biggest t**s in the world.”
“The terrain was rugged and unmanicured.”
LOl! Oh, that was a goody! What a cutie pie, too.
If this guy was Bear Grylls’ partner I’d love watching Man vs. Wild even more! Except Bear would eat him
I think the “railing” in the photos is doors and rails of a sunroom or a closed in deck. A friend of mine has a sunroom that looks like this.
Completely awesome post, NTMTOM.
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHA
haha
ha
ha.
Wow, NTMTOM, you really outdid yourself this time. DAYUM.
Ah, so cute!
I like when there are unusual animals on CO! More lizards, please!
And he did it without his sherpa – who needs you Tenzing Norgay!
@Nancy & Theresa: Bwahahaha!!!!!
NTMTOM: GREAT post!!!!!!
soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good advice, Theresa. Although in my limited experience (I went to Florida for 2 weeks once) it should read, “if lizards have to handle YOU…” Or if they have to run up the leg of your shorts, for that matter. Which apparently they do.
*welcomes skippymom in a long-fingered, banana-smelling and only slightly venomous embrace…but that’s another entry…*
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the cuteness of lizards is vastly underrated.
I think he loks a bit like David Attenborough. Is that because he does, or because I am strange, or both?
that is sooooo not cute….
NOMTOM, great post! And Nancy, hilarious reference! Thanks for the laughs today.
uncle z and I went to Florida last year…we sat on our condo porch, got drunk and watched these little guys run all over the screened in porch…we called them “skitterers” cause they skittered all over the place….very cute and entertaining!
Have I mentioned that I LUFF your prose, NOMTOM?
Awww.. cute little lizzie…I would welcome her with open hands any time!
I am one of the lucky ones. I live in Florida, and yes, this is a brown anole, a rather young one in fact. These little guys are all over the place here. In the summers I would float in the pool and rescue the hapless ones that fell in while chasing bugs. Just be aware, like squirrels, they don’t have much of a survival instinct, and will run the wrong way across the path to avoid you, generally putting themselves under your feet if you aren’t paying attention.
We also have green ones (are you jealous yet?)
But… he doesn’t have a FLAG!!! No flag, no country. That’s the rules…
@SoCal: Sha-ZAM on the Izzard reference.
unmanicured terrain? Only Mike.
How did he manage finger nail glacier?
what if his parents will come
@Paunchie: oh, a bit of spelunking in a potentially volatile region!
When I lived in Florida, I had this ugly old bush, but at night all the leetle leezards slept in its leaves. Hubby wanted to take the bush out to landscape, but I flung myself in front of it and said, “NOOOO! That’s the Leezard Youth Hostel.” So, the ugly bush stayed. I miss my leetle leezards.
That’s a baby brown anole, found at a beach house in Casey Key, Florida. Very cute. I know because those are my hands…
Aww… so cute! I love lizards. And I love very tiny things. So this is perfect.
This is a juvenile brown anole (Anolis sagrei), native to Cuba, the Bahamas and some other Caribbean islands.
It is considered a non-native invasive species (“nuisance” or “pest species” even) in the US and currently occurs in FL, GA, HI and some other southeastern states. Recent research by University of Tennessee and U of Florida biologists indicates that the invasion of brown anoles is resulting in the rapid decline of native green anole populations (Anolis carolinensis) in the US southeast (see work by Dr. Todd Campbell). Brown anoles reproduce faster and can potentially outcompete green anoles for food and habitat. Here in Hawaii, A. carolinensis isn’t native either, but the same decline has been documented after the introduction of A. sagrei.
More about A. sagrei invasions:
http://invasions.bio.utk.edu/invaders/sagrei.html
And here’s a cutesy-w00tsy green anole hatchling:
http://www.robertlordzimlich.com/bayfront/Green%20Anole%206015.JPG
Lesson: Cute or not, NEVER release your pets into the wild or try to sneak them past customs inspectors/pet quarantine. Doing so could potentially kill lots of wild animals (and plants, etc.) The protection and conservation of native ecosystems (and their species) is important for preserving global biodiversity (read “cute things”).
This is a juvenile brown anole (Anolis sagrei), native to Cuba, the Bahamas and some other Caribbean islands.
It is considered a non-native invasive species (“nuisance” or “pest species” even) in the US and currently occurs in FL, GA, HI and some other southeastern states. Recent research by U of Tennessee and U of Florida biologists indicates that the invasion of brown anoles is resulting in the rapid decline of native green anole populations (Anolis carolinensis) in the US southeast (see work by Dr. Todd Campbell). Brown anoles reproduce faster and can potentially outcompete green anoles for food and habitat. They’ve even been documented eating green anole hatchlings (as well as their own). Here in Hawaii, A. carolinensis isn’t native either, but the same decline has been documented after the recent introduction of A. sagrei.
More about Anolis sagrei invasions:
http://invasions.bio.utk.edu/invaders/sagrei.html
And here’s a cutesy-w00tsy green anole hatchling:
http://www.robertlordzimlich.com/bayfront/Green%20Anole%206015.JPG
Lesson: Cute or not, NEVER release your pets into the wild or try to sneak them past customs inspectors/pet quarantine. Doing so could potentially kill lots of wild animals (and plants, etc.) The protection and conservation of native ecosystems (and their species) is important for preserving global biodiversity (read “environmental conservation can mean saving cute things”).
@wannadance – re: your question about whether geckos are amphibians
http://tinyurl.com/blceb7
and what anoles are:
http://tinyurl.com/ded2zg
…!
Hello, little man! You have a friend in St. Louis! His name is Richard, and he’s a lizzie just like you.
Grow big and strong and have yourself some bugs!
I was scrubbing the floor of the shower for grandparents in Texas when
a clump of bubbles came to life and ran across the floor and up the wall. Me SCREAM big time.