Anole Lizard

You hear about lots of bugs and other creatures that invade your home here. Giant cockroaches, biting centipedes, and cane spiders are common foes that come up in conversation. And freak me out! In addition to those creepy things, there are a lot of lizards here, but I find them cute and completely harmless. The kids are always excited and try to poke them when we find them out and about. However, we were pretty surprised to find one in our apartment the other day!

Here he is, enjoying the view:

Lizard home invasion stories are common... but we live on the 37th floor! So, this guy thought he found a huge, awesome tree and was horribly mistaken. Or maybe a neighbor lost their pet. Either way, I got the nerve up to scoop him into an empty jam jar so we could take him outside.

Luke had the big job of carrying the jar, and thankfully it made it all the way to the park without breaking. I cannot say that the jar made it without being shaken. Three-year-old boys are incapable of holding still, and putting a jar with a real live lizard in it makes it impossible not to shake. Needless to say, the lizard didn't waste any time getting out of his temporary housing situation.

 Sweet freedom!

Luke kept asking if it was a lizard or a gecko. I didn't know, but a dude at the park said it was an Anole lizard. I can only hope that our encounters with creatures stay this cute and uneventful!

Sidenote: As I look stuff on the internet to verify what random dudes at the park tell me, I put the link here so you can see my sources. Of course you are not forced to read the information, but I highly recommend the cockroach article's narrative, and less scientific style, ex: "color: dark brown and disgusting." They also have one on the cane spider, but no one wants to see more pictures of those things... or do you? Plus, you can say reading this blog is making you smarter!