Butiki

Gekkonidae; Gehyra; Gehyra mutilata (wiegmann, 1834). I see this species of Gecko from time to time, but much less often than Hemidactylus frenatus which I see several times each day. The total number of observations when I have been able to take photos of G. mutilata (between March 4, 2014 and this spotting on Oct 19, 2022) comes to only five. So, naturally, when I see one and have a chance to take a photo or two, I am very happy. That was pretty much how I felt when I saw this one, with slight reservations about it being in the kitchen sink. Why? because just less than two months ago, I posted a spotting of G. mutilata in that very same kitchen sink. I didn't feel that I could post another spotting of this species in the exact same place so soon after the first one. However, I had taken the pictures and decided to file them away for future reference. Of course, I imagine, like everyone else I wanted to take a peep at my shots before consigning them to the the archives. perhaps never to be viewed again. When I started looking, I noticed that this specimen had, like some (if not most) of my previous G. mutilata, a new tail and I was sure that the original "kitchen sink specimen" also had the tell-tale (sorry for the pun) scar tissue. I remembered that I had a conversation with Ranger Mark Ridgeway about the scar tissue and I wanted to check if this new one was "neater" or "more scrappy" looking. As soon as I had the old and new spottings on my screen, side-by-side, I was astonished. This latest spotting was not "another" mutilata. It was the same mutilata! I knew that I had to post this to PN because how often do we get a chance to spot the exact same creature, almost two months after the first time? I was delighted to see it, still strong and healthy and sharing a common habitat - our house. Details of how I knew it was the same animal are in Notes.