Hang Man

Monday, January 11, 2010

Cold Weather Rescue

I briefly ventured out of the house today to visit the thrift store. It's my favorite place to find treasures extremely cheap. However, the bad economy has even hit the thrift store. People aren't donating like they used to, so bargains are few and far between. After the thrift store Joe and I decided to go to the library. We had to hurry and browse because it was almost noon which is the librarian/county clerk/BMV lady's lunch time. She closes at noon on the dot; she doesn't care how many people are in there. She scares me so I do what she says. Plus she runs most every county office so you really don't want to get on her bad side or you may not get your fishing license.

The sun is out today but it's still in the 50's. I was outside for a bit pulling weeds when I happened on a little lizard on the sidewalk. Normally you can't catch those suckers; they are fast. This little guy however didn't even move when I reached down to pick him up. I wasn't even sure he was still alive. I brought him into the condo and watched him intently for a couple of minutes waiting for him to breath. It took awhile but I finally saw movement in his little chest. HE'S ALIVE!
I put him in a little cage that I had from when Bryan had a hermit crab at one time. As he warmed up I saw a little more movement. Joe and I debated for 20 minutes on what species of lizard he is. I say he's a Gecko and Joe says he's an Anole. While the Anoles are much more common in Florida, I presented overwhelming evidence to Joe that it was indeed a Gecko; a Marbled Gecko to be precise. As usual I was right.

He's breathing much more regularly now, but he's not moving too much. They are nocturnal so maybe he's just sleeping. I looked over at him earlier and he opened his mouth wide and kind of shook his head. I thought; Oh he's waking up, I saved him! He opened up his mouth again, but this time he puked up something black and slimy. Upon inspection of the black slimy thing I determined that it is some kind of insect larvae. I was just about ready to eat lunch but I think I'll pass. I was worried about what I was going to feed him to nurse him back to health. It's to cold to find any insects, but now I don't have to worry. He can re-eat his regurgitated meal.

When it warms up I will release him back into the wilderness that is Chokoloskee. Hopefully he won't get run over by an old guy driving a golf cart.

1 comment:

Steve said...

Your library/clerk/BMV/Government worker sounds like a typical entitled gov't employee. Can you imagine what it will be like when she takes on the title of health insurance czar to the elderly in that area. I'm sure there will be some that are also scared of her who would just rather die than have to deal with her.

I'll bet you won't find a red or blue person who hasn't encountered a gov't employee like this. Lets call a spade a spade. That's not a spade its a fucking shovel!