Mitch "Harry" Jones, The Gecko, Has A Close Call

My niece Amanda has been driving over the past couple of days, with Michael and Helen, from Florida to Chicago. On Friday morning, Amanda, Michael and Helen pulled over at a rest stop in Illinois and when she opened the car door a gecko fell to the ground.

She did a double take upon noticing the little critter. “Huh!?!”

The poor guy was half frozen. He had been hiding in some space in the car door and had managed, somehow, to survive up to this point in time. They were astonished he had made it this far.

Geckos live in warm weather climates… (and prefer sandals to work boots). Amanda and her friends had already been on the road for hundreds of miles and many of those hours were in cold weather. How did he do it? Unfortunately, he wasn’t looking well and it was questionable whether he would even survive.

When he fell to the ground, Amanda said, "Oh my goodness!"

Initially, her traveling companions couldn’t see him and asked, "What is it?"

Amanda said, "It's a gecko!" And she picked him up.

"Is he alive?" they asked with some disbelief.

"Barely," said Amanda.

So she held him in her hands for a while allowing him to warm up. Then they got a box, poked holes in it and placed him in the box keeping him in the heated car.

They named him Mitch “Harry” Jones. I don’t remember exactly why but three names seems like a pretty sweet deal for a lizard, doesn’t it? Most reptiles are dying for even one name.

Mitch continued with them on the trip through Illinois all the way to our house, stopping a few times for McDonald’s drive-thru and an occasional decaf latte from Starbucks. (Geckos will usually try to avoid caffeine.)

When they arrived at our house, we found an old aquarium in the garage and Mitch is making himself at home. He appears to be doing alright. In fact, this morning they went out to buy him some crickets for lunch. (Jealous, aren’t you?) Just a few moments ago, Mitch looked up at me with thankful eyes and said, "I won’t lie to you, dude, that was a close call!"

I nodded my head sympathetically as I tossed him another cricket dipped in barbecue sauce. (We’re sharing.)

I’m not sure about this but I think there is a possibility Mitch might be part cat. If I’m right that would mean he now has 8 lives remaining.