If you were to spend the night in someone’s home in Hawaii, you might be wakened from sleep by a strange chirping noise.

Something like a cricket on a microphone. Hooked up to a subwoofer.

You would find it hard to believe a little critter, not more than four inches from nose to tail, could make such a noise. This is our friend the gecko.

I hasten to clarify that Hawaiian geckos bear little resemblance to the green creature which is the mascot for a certain insurance company. For one thing, our Hawaii geckos are not green, they’re more of a light brown. I guess ours are one of the other 800 species of geckos found around the world.

Folks in Hawaii tend to have mixed feelings about geckos. Some people considers them pests and can’t stand the idea of little beige lizards making themselves at home in our houses. Others — like me — find them harmless and even a little cute, as well as useful for eating bugs like termites, which really are pests.

Here’s my little buddy the gecko who is currently living in my kitchen:

This is the nineteenth post in my series, 31 Days of Life in my Hawaii. Click here to get the links to the other posts in the series.