From Snopes we get some non-fake news (click on screenshot). I’ve been butt-dialed by people a few times, but never by a gecko. But in an animal hospital in Hawaii that cares for monk seals, an intruder gecko butt-dialed many, many times with its little sticky feet. Click on the screenshot to see the story:
An excerpt:
Marine mammal veterinarian Claire Simeone was at lunch when she got a call from Ke Kai Ola, the Big Island hospital where she’s director. There was silence on the other end. Nine more silent calls followed. Fearing a seal emergency, she rushed back.
She wasn’t the only one getting calls, and people started asking why the hospital was calling non-stop.
Trying figure out why a “bazillion” calls were made from one line, she called the phone company and a rep tried to talk her through finding a possible line on the fritz. She walked into a lab and found the culprit. The gecko was perched on a phone, making calls to everyone in the recent call history with “HIS TINY GECKO FEET,” she wrote in a Twitter thread the next day, detailing the saga.
How can a gecko make calls? See the photo below for the answer.
Dr. Simeone’s Twitter thread starts here, and continues down to the catching of the culprit. It’s worth clicking on the link in the preceding sentence and reading down to the bottom. There are stories about cats ordering cat stuff from Amazon, but I don’t believe them. This one, however, must be true because Snopes says so.
THERE IS A GECKO SITTING ON THE TOUCHSCREEN OF THE PHONE, MAKING CALLS WITH HIS TINY GECKO FEET!!! This gecko has called me 15 times, and everyone in our recent call list. *Actual photo of telemarketer* @TMMC @GEICO @HawaiianTel pic.twitter.com/USyKeOiDbE
— Dr. Claire Simeone (@Claire_Simeone) October 5, 2018
He should be dialing the termite guy to bring some over. Aloha.
Awww. I love geckos. They are so cute & they are all over the place in Hawaii.
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That’s a day gecko of genus Phelsuma. From Madagascar (probably) and a Big Island invasive.
Yes…all reptiles on the Hawaiian islands are invaders…as far as I know. When it comes to fauna, I think only birds evolved on those islands. I doubt the gecko causes much environmental harm, but that’s just speculation w/o a google.
If the geckos are causing any harm in Hawaii, it would be news to me. Other than some very small poop scattered around and that is from eating things like termites. Throughout the tropics geckos are our friends.
That is hilarious!
I was in Maui this summer, and these kinds of geckos were pretty common. Lovely creatures.
I love geckos. I had a family of them in my room when I lived in India, I named them all after Jetsons characters.
Of course there is always the Geico Gecko.
“So, if you received a silent call yesterday from @TMMC #KeKaiOla, you are welcome, and you may mail us your donation check anytime. @GEICO corporate sponsorships available. 🤣 #onlyinhawaii #withaloha”
This lady knows how to use a viral story to get some dosh better than 99.9% of “marketing experts” and people with similar titles.
I once got a call from an iguana. This explains a lot.
“Blessed is the house that hosts geckos” they eat flies and mosquitos andother pests. I’m very fond of my geckos (called ‘geitjies’, little goats here) and my chameleons (and my frogs). I try to protect them as much aspossible from Hadedas, Guiney fowl and cats. No mean task, and I taste failure on a regular basis.
Sorry for the typos.