Small, fast and stealthy. Among the many little animals that live in our homes there are also geckos. This is a small reptile and one of the closest relatives of the lizard . The one that enters our homes is commonly called “domestic gecko” , and often decides to keep us company because it is attracted to environments with a lot of light. The gecko , which feeds on insects (including cockroaches and locusts) has learned that near sources of light there is a strong presence of this type of animal, which are its source of food.
You should not chase it because it is harmless, does not carry diseases and is a real biological controller of insects.
In fact, if you decide not to chase it from your home, you will not have particular problems with mosquitoes, flies, midges etc.What to do if a gecko enters your house
Why do geckos come into the house?
As I was telling you, the main, if not the only, reason why geckos come into the house is because they are attracted to very bright environments . Houses, especially modern ones, are almost continuous sources of light.
One of the most complete reports on urban light pollution bears witness to this. This change in the hours of darkness and light also influences the activity of animals, as Prof. Fabio Falchi, physicist and author of the World Atlas “of the artificial brightness of the night sky” , explained to us : “nighttime lighting modifies all the balances between species. If we increase the amount of light in a nighttime environment, the behavior of individual species changes. There are animals that hide when there is more light because they are prey , they tend to come out only to feed when it is dark, but if this is no longer the case these species suffer an evolutionary disadvantage and may face extinction . “
What to do if you find a gecko in your house
The answer to “what should I do if a gecko has entered my house” is very simple: absolutely nothing. It happens that these animals enter our homes , either because they are lost, or because they need to eat.
There is no need to worry, therefore, these little animals will go away on their own. It will be enough to leave the window slightly open all day and, most likely, the gecko will go away on its own.
The features
Geckos are actually reptiles: they belong to the suborder of saurians and the Gekkonidae family and find their natural habitat in the Mediterranean area , especially along the coastal strips where the climate is warm but temperate. And yes, their peculiarity is the one that could scare you the most but it is also the most intriguing, especially from a scientific point of view.
Geckos are stealthy and silent animals that love to move on walls or walls, between stones or in narrow spaces. In fact, they have the ability to adhere to many different surfaces , even walking upside down and vertically and without having to use any adhesive secretion: the secret lies in their legs .
These are made up of millions of small hairs between which a particular electrostatic bond is established, the so-called “Van der Waals force” . Each pad of a gecko’s foot is made up of millions of these hairs which, with minimal pressure, conform to the characteristics of any surface, multiplying these electrostatic forces and allowing the animal to “stick” as if it had suction cups . This is a masterpiece of Nature’s engineering that scientists and engineers, even from NASA , have been studying and trying to replicate in different fields for years.
Normally the size of a gecko is medium-small and does not exceed 15-16 centimeters , also taking into account the tail. It is a small animal, therefore, and above all harmless. Man is not part of its interests and indeed, if you were to approach it, it would probably run away , scared. It is clear, however, that if they were to be disturbed or annoyed, they could react badly, perhaps with a bite that, however, is not poisonous.
Speaking of interests and bites, as I was saying, geckos are not only fascinating and mysterious, but also useful. Imagine a quiet sunny day invaded by uninvited and even unwelcome guests such as mosquitoes , flies , spiders , bedbugs or cockroaches . Out of fear, allergies or maybe simply because you don’t like them, you could react impulsively and chase them away or maybe even worse. This is why a gecko that, instead, would gorge on them is important: in a certain sense, therefore, protecting them also means protecting ourselves. Above all, however, by learning to live with geckos you could therefore avoid needlessly killing insects and promote the normal functioning of an ecosystem.