What kind of a lizzard is this?!

[Ben]

http://static.flickr.com/60/170362655_c94dc0521c.jpg?v=0

This fat little monster lives on our terrace and sits on the plantpot on the other side of the window next to where I work. He's about twice as fat as all the other lizzards living out here and we have no idea how he got to the top of a 6 storey building! So lizzard type is a mystery, but he does at least have a name, Aurelio :cool:

[Marbella]

Gecko (Moorish)?

[Marbella]

Any relation to your guest?

http://www.raywilsonbirdphotography.co.uk/Foreign%20Trips/Extremadura/Extremadura5.html

[ValenciaSon]

Looks like a mali uromastyx.

[Ben]

Any relation to your guest?

http://www.raywilsonbirdphotography.co.uk/Foreign%20Trips/Extremadura/Extremadura5.html
That looks just like him! Thanks!
Looks like a mali uromastyx.
And one of those (http://images.google.com/images?sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGGL,GGGL:2005-09,GGGL:en&q=mali+uromastyx) too!

[Edith]

Gecko (Moorish)?

Definitely. I love geckos, they're cute! Especially the feet... :D

[Edith]

and we have no idea how he got to the top of a 6 storey building! :cool:

Because of the suckers on his feet:

http://www.dannesdjur.com/bilder/tarentola_mauritanica.jpg

[Ben]

That one looks just like mine!

[greytop]

http://www.daygecko.com/html/day_gecko_info_.html

"All day geckos have flattened toe pads that are covered on the bottom with dead, keratinized scales called lamellae. The lamellae scale surface is made up of long hair-like structures called setae, and each setae is divided and subdivided along its length making the setal tips very small. Because of the setae, day geckos are capable of climbing up glass walls and, across ceilings, making them great escape artists."

Clever eh! If the scientists get their act together the ladder could be redundant, replaced by gecko shoes.

[Edith]

Here is some more info about your little gecko:

http://www.mma.es/parques/centasoc/salamanquesa.htm

I tried to look up the Spanish word for gecko and my dictionary came up with two alternatives: 'lagartija', which also means 'small lizard', and 'salamanquesa'. Again, the Latin name proved to be a valuable clue:

Engl. Moorish gecko = Lat. tarentola mauretanica = Esp. salamanquesa común

The word 'salamanquesa' has got nothing to do with salamanders. Salamander = salamandra in Spanish. (!viva Google!)

[Edith]

This is a very informative site on Spain's wildlife. It also contains lists with animal names in Spanish and you can even watch videos from the BBC and from TVE:

http://www.iberianature.com/index.html

Glossary:

http://www.iberianature.com/material/glossarya.htm

[Edith]

Does any of you remember the TVE wildlife series 'El Hombre Y la Tierra' by Félix Rodrígiez de la Fuente, Spain's version of David Attenborough? I'm not sure whether it was also broadcasted by the BBC, but I suppose so because we were able to watch it in Holland as well. The series is now available on DVD:

http://www.zonadvd.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3751

[Polly]

Artist's Rendering of Ben's Gecko Friend:

http://www.arizonagift.com/images/si/03/Wall%20Gecko.jpg

[Edith]

Nice! Did you make that yourself?

[Marina]

I remember Felix Rodriguez de la Fuente documentaries, they were very popular when I was a child. However the bad tongues (translated directly from "las malas lenguas") say that he would starve the animals for days in order to get such amazing images of one animal following and eating another one.

[Edith]

I remember Felix Rodriguez de la Fuente documentaries, they were very popular when I was a child. However the bad tongues (translated directly from "las malas lenguas") say that he would starve the animals for days in order to get such amazing images of one animal following and eating another one.

:eek:

And I always thought Felix Rodriguez de la Fuente was one of Europe's great conservationists, like Jacques-Yves Cousteau... I really enjoyed his documentaries! Many people in Holland did. At the time, I was still living with my parents and we used to watch them together. If the story is true, this would be really disappointing.

[Marina]

It's just a rumor, so please don't pay much attention to what I said.
We used to watch the series all the family together and brings me good memories back.

[ValenciaSon]

It reminds me of a show I used to watch with my family as a kid. It was called Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. It came on Sunday evenings right before the Wonderful World of Disney. There was an assistant who's name was Jim. Jim was always sent in, it seemed like when the situation with the animal was dangerous or if the situation required labor:rolleyes:

[Edith]

We used to watch the series all the family together and brings me good memories back.

I'm glad it's probably only a rumor. We shouldn't pay attention to rumors anyway until they have been proven. ;)

My father was really really impressed by the famous footage of a golden eagle chasing down a rabbit... he just couldn't over it. 'How did he manage to film THAT?' he used to say. I'm very glad we were able to watch this excellent series on Dutch television. We got a lot of the good BBC natural history stuff too. At that time we didn't have access to many foreign TV channels, so we depended on what our national TV networks were willing to broadcast. (now we've got more than 70 channels from all over Western Europe although I need a special decoder to watch TVE)

[timg]

(now we've got more than 70 channels from all over Western Europe although I need a special decoder to watch TVE)
Edith, do you get the other European channels via satellite, or are they available with a normal TV aerial (plus decoder)? I'm still debating whether to spend out on a satellite dish to pick up the free-to-air channels. I'm not sure whether I'll get anything worth watching or just another few hundred channels of rubbish!

[Edith]

Edith, do you get the other European channels via satellite, or are they available with a normal TV aerial (plus decoder)? I'm still debating whether to spend out on a satellite dish to pick up the free-to-air channels. I'm not sure whether I'll get anything worth watching or just another few hundred channels of rubbish!

Since I live in Holland I'm not sure what you would be able to watch via satellite in the UK. In Holland, satellite viewers can watch 6 channels from Spain, among other things. I haven't got a satellite disc myself but I get all my channels by cable (+ a special decoder for TVE). I considered buying a satellite disc but this meant I would lose the BBC, so I didn't do it because I love the Beeb more than anything else. :D
Many of the commercial Dutch channels I get are absolute rubbish and I never watch them. What I do watch is Nederland 1, 2 and 3 (Dutch state television), BRT 1 and 2 from Belgium, ARD, ZDF and WRD from Germany, BBC 1, 2 and BBC World from the UK, TVE, Animal Planet, National Geographic Channel and Discovery Channel. We get French and Italian TV as well but since I don't understand French or Italian I never watch it.

[Polly]

Nice! Did you make that yourself?


No. I can't draw worth a darn. But I like the image!

[timg]

Edith, thanks for the info. From the UK we should be able to pick up most free-to-air European satellite channels. I'm particularly interested in Spanish and Italian (for learning) and German (because my wife wants to learn German). However, I think we probably watch too much of the caja tonta anyway so maybe not.

[Marbella]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5217240.stm

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41932000/jpg/_41932242_geckofoot_300.jpg

[Edith]

Awesome! :) There is so much we can learn from nature. Velcro, for instance, was invented by a Swiss scientist who was intrigued by the plant seeds which attached themselves to his clothes during his daily walks through the Alps.

[Ben]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5217240.stm

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41932000/jpg/_41932242_geckofoot_300.jpg

"It would mean that your local window cleaner could dispense with his ladders and climb up the side of your house,"

That I have to see!!!