> I take it by the gist of this thread that these particular Barking
> Geckoes aren't Australian natives? A quick web search revealed four
> different species with the common name "Barking Gecko" - two of which
> are natives.
I don't think these ones are native. Apparently they are Hemidactylus
frenatus (Asian House Gecko). According to recent "Wildlife of Greater
Brisbane" they are the only introduced gecko in Australia.They appear to
have become established in Brisbane only in the last ten years. Occurrence
still very patchy and largely confined to wharves, residential and business
areas as far north as Strathpine.
They are an amazing creature and as I sit here typing this I can hear one
that not very far from me giving his usually barking call. I think perhaps
people who regularly spray their house with pesticides are killing their
populations. I stopped spraying my place in 1991 and its only been from
around that time that I noticed we had them. They have steadily increased in
population every since. Once you have them established you really don't have
to spray for cockys etc anymore. Its a pity they don't eat redback spiders
as we also have hundreds of them as well ;-)
Adrian.
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Adrian R. Tappin
"Home of the Rainbowfish"
http://www.ecn.net.au/~atappin/home.htm
http://www.angfa.org/rainbowfish/home.htm
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