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Barking
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Barking
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Copyright©Wildlife Education Services 2003
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This is a common gecko in the Darling Range. This gecko was photographed on Frank Venn Rd in Toodyay in September. They like to live on the granite outcrops and laterite rocks. They live in the southern region across Australia, Shark bay in the north of Western Australia is their northern limit. |
Adults are approx 90mm from snout to vent in length. |
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What do they eat?
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Its hard to think of these cute gecko's as stealthy hunters, but they are. All gecko's are predators feeding on a wide variety of arthropods and some feed on termites and others even eat smaller geckos. Gecko's often wave their tails or sway their hips like a stalking cat before lunging on their prey.
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These photographs were taken in the Darling Range in the Serpentine area in November. Go Here to see our video of this gecko. This one has had a lucky escape from a predator but lost its tail and has re-grown another one far less attractive than the original tail |
Gecko's lick their eyes to keep them clean from the dust and dirt This gecko is recorded as making a barking sound when provoked while standing high on its legs but I haven't found this yet. The geckos I have found just tend to walk off the road and up the nearest tree. They shelter in bark, fallen timber and beneath rocks during the day occasionally coming out to bask on cool sunny days. |
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The females usually lay two parchment shell eggs in a soil nest under a rock or crevice which may be shared by other gecko's. |
Update;
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In the dark their light coloured markings almost glow. You would think this would be a disadvantage in allowing them to be seen more by their predators at night? |
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Update; This Barking or Thick-tailed gecko was found at Tutanning Nature Reserve in the wheatbelt in November. |
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All Content,
written and graphical Copyright © Wildlife Education Services 2003. |
