Barking Geckos

With the Western Australian summer here, the temperatures are too hot to find our garden and local geckos just under sheets of tin or thin slabs of rock. Most are now deeper down in cracks or under larger rock outcrops.

Here is a video I took of a Barking Gecko when temperatures were cooler and geckos could sometimes still be found moving in the early morning.







These beautiful Barking Geckos (Underwoodisaurus milli) are found over most of southern Australia. They are one of the two species of thick-tailed geckos found in Australia. They are called barking geckos because of their threat display, where they lunge forward, raise their body and yelp and hiss.

They grow to 17cm and have a wonderful fat tail, especially if it has been a good season, but can quickly drop it if you pick them up. These geckos can also give you a good nip and not let go, if you get your finger too close. There was one time where I had to sit for ten minutes with a gecko attached to my hand, before he decided to let go and went his way.

They look very similar to the nine species of Knob-tailed Geckos found in Australia and will shortly (or already) be placed in the Nephurus genus.