Defreezing a gecko

A Sunday tropical story

After opening the fridge to get some eggs out for a wonderful Sunday brunch we noticed a gecko on one of the eggs. Usually geckos which are in abundance in our home are somewhat green. This fellow was more grayish with eyes closed making it clear that it spent at least the whole night in the fridge. We observed the gecko for a little while and then it opened its eyes and the rescue began. We brought it out into more temperate climate—around 30 degrees Celsius currently—to defreeze the gecko. It started to open its mouth and its tail made first moves. We did our best in providing water; we even got a fresh mosquito for it. Moreover, we made sure that ants got not too interested in the now light greenish body. We fought for two hours but lost the battle. Now we check the whole fridge before going to bed and stop arguing in front of an open fridge if it would be better to have wine, beer or whatever with the dinner.

Yesterday at home, Jakarta, August 2009.