Lizard lovers!

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 6, Issue 244, 31 May 1988, Page 1

Lizard lovers!

BY

julie

Nation.

Ohakune residents Pam and John Greenwood bubble with enthusiasm whenever the topic of lizards comes up in conversation.

And for good reason - they are the proud owners of 47 native New Zealand geckos and seven native skinks.

The couple belong to the New Zealand Herpetological Society, whose objective is the conservation and study of native reptiles and Turnpage 2

Lizard lovers!

From page 1 amphibians. This reporter found it takes a very special breed of person to find anything about the aged-looking, roughskinned creatures appealing. John, whose interest stems from childhood, can recite from memory a wealth of information about geckos and skinks: geckos have very dull, loose skin while the snake-like skink's is very shiny and tight; geckos are tree-dwellers while skinks live on the ground; the common gecko is found primarily in coastal areas, while forest varieties are found in beech, manuka or kanuka growths around the country. The greater part of the Greenwoods' lizard collection were rescued

from saivage areas. Ten geckos and five skinks have since been born in captivity. Rescuing the creatures from saivage areas - pockets of native bush around the country being cleared for housing and farming - is a family affair. Paula 14, and John 15 are also enthusiasts. And, according to the family, rescue can sometimes be a perilous occupation in itself. The Greenwoods' collection is housed in a spacious open-air vavarium, built completely by John. The vavarium is modelled to closely resemble the lizards' natural environment with a few inbuilt refinements, including automatic spray units that 'rain' in the cages at the same time every day.

In fact the inhabitants live in comparative luxury, with a food supply that can't get away, double mesh on the windows to protect against cats and possums, and perspex shutters that are drawn against adverse weather conditions. Finding food supplies locally - the staple diet of the lizards being houseflies and moths - once created problems. Food is now purchased from Bio Supplies in Auckland. Every fortnight a brown package arrives through the mail, containing 1400 laboratory bred fly and moth larvae that hatch into germfree adults. The main food source is served along with an entree consisting of a calcium Turnpage 13

Lizards

Frompage2 and multi-vitamin food supplement. Each member of the precious collection is numbered and its growth rate carefully noted on a monthly basis. The family have even gone to the trouble of naming each individual, although none of the geckos or skinks have learned to respond to their names yet.says John! John is very careful' at keeping family members apart, to avoid the possibility of cross-breeding. His main interest at present is locating and studying spccies within the Waimarino. His findings will indicate how local geckos and skinks differ from other species, numbers and habitat. The Greenwoods have obtained their lizards from salvage areas as far north as Kaitaia. Habitat has ranged from swamp land with hidden perils pot holes, to sheer cliffs, to gorsefilled gullys. The weather is never taken into consideration because lizards unlike human beings, are oblivious to pouring rain or howling gales. Day hunts are very enjoyable but night hunts using a spotlight are often more fruitful, from the family's experience. Night hunts can also be rather dangerous, when all eyes are fixed on the tree tops rather on what lies ahead. Their most precious (and most timeconsuming) catch to date was a large Northland Green Gecko, caught after 36 hours solid hunting. The creature was spotted on a night hunt, perched precariously up a 10 foot manuka tree. After escaping into darkness it eluded capture. For some time the gecko defeated their efforts to find it anywhere on the ground, but they were determined not to leave empty-handed. It was f i n a 1 1 y discovered perched on Pam's arm, watching in apparent amusment the family's efforts to find it. Risking life and limb is routine during salvaging. In a recent outing John spotted a forest gecko on a manuka bush growing on the edge of a cliff, After much levering using the bush as support, he estatically bagged the prize - and walked off the edge of the cliff in his delight. The gecko was unharmed in the fall and apart from a sore leg, so was John. John is keen to hear from anyone who has sighted or captured lizards in the area which may help him identify and document local species, or in fact from anyone with ari interest in native reptiles.