WE who live in the tropics are so used to sharing our houses with the house gecko that we hardly notice them. It's usually only when they land their black and white droppings onto our belongings or even on us(!) that we curse them or try to chase them out - or worse when one of them lands on us! (Just imagine the fun if you're only an onlooker!) Otherwise we (lizard and us) co-exist quite peacefully. I think they do notice us though, and even listen to our conversation sometimes, busy-body lot they are! When they agree with what we say they will "chak-chak-chak" away, and as an "Amen" the superstitious among us would quickly knock on wood.
Well, the Malay name for them is cikcak, no doubt from the sound they make. The Bisayan people call them (as far as I know, not being one of them) butiki, also, I think, mimicking their retilian sound which they hear as "tiki, tiki, tiki" (I believe different people hear sounds differently from one another!). The Chinese however have a more noble name for these ninjas that climb walls and walk on ceilings! They call them 壁虎 pi-hu or "wall-tigers"! Which I think is not quite right, look at the close-up photo I took of one of these creatures! Doesn't it remind you more of a crocodile than a tiger? So I think they should be called "wall crocs" instead!
Well, the Malay name for them is cikcak, no doubt from the sound they make. The Bisayan people call them (as far as I know, not being one of them) butiki, also, I think, mimicking their retilian sound which they hear as "tiki, tiki, tiki" (I believe different people hear sounds differently from one another!). The Chinese however have a more noble name for these ninjas that climb walls and walk on ceilings! They call them 壁虎 pi-hu or "wall-tigers"! Which I think is not quite right, look at the close-up photo I took of one of these creatures! Doesn't it remind you more of a crocodile than a tiger? So I think they should be called "wall crocs" instead!
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