UST GS: Befriend the House Lizard - Butiki

Photos from specimen by  Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature - School on Blog

Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio

738 DZRB AM, 8-9 evening class Monday to Friday

Common House Lizard or House, Hemidactylus frenatus, in three positions.

Befriend the house lizard, it preys on mosquitoes and flies, midges and hoppers, gamu-gamu when termites swarm, so with winged ants, that come inside the house. It is a faithful soldier to protect you from these small and often unseen enemies.   

Befriend the house lizard, it gleans on morsels on the floor, in the kitchen and dining area, and small leftovers of children and pets around the house that would otherwise attract flies, rodents and other vermin. 

Befriend the house lizard, it foretells good fortune when its call - tsak-tsak-tsak... - is crispy, clear and happy, and when its call comes at close interval, prepare for some guests coming with good news. 

Befriend the house lizard, it reminds you of the ancient past, its ancestral beginning when the dinosaurs roamed the earth for millions of years, and how through evolution, departed from the fateful path that annihilated its giant kin.     

Befriend the house lizard, it is a natural born strategist: when it in extreme danger, it automatically detaches its whole tail and leaves it vigorously twitching which then attracts its enemy, as the tailless fellow stealthily scampers to safety.  

Befriend the house lizard, it is a rare specimen of regeneration, its lost tail growing back while resuming normal activity, a phenomenon in lower organisms like crabs and starfish - and exceptional on reptilian level, thus challenging science if it can extend it on mammals - and ultimately to man.    

Befriend the house lizard, it teaches you to wonder and even question established principles, as it walks and runs on the ceiling -  upside down -  defying Newton's law of gravity, and others laws of physics, chemistry and biology. 

Befriend the house lizard, it is harmless, independent, self-sufficient.  It's a good company and when everything is quiet, and thoughts are not of the cares and worries of living, it breaks the still air with crispy happy notes of cheer.  And when in courtship and gathering, it taps and wiggles its tail, sends off peculiar tiny guttural sound.

Befriend the house lizard, it goes down from its abode on the ceiling and walls, and top of trees to kiss the earth at dusk when the church bell knells the Angelus, reminding us all to say a prayer of thanksgiving for the day, and to prepare for a good night's rest with the family in the comfort of home.  ~  

NOTE: This article is a tribute to this hapless specimen I accidentally hurt while cleaning the garage. It had just molted, a periodic change of skin common in reptiles. During this period the creature is weak and vulnerable, and remains in its shelter until it can resume its normal activity.