To catch a fly

We had a bit of a life-threatening drama a few weeks ago. I had to don my Superman suit and save a life. It all started with a flycatcher sticky pad.

They are a double-sided sticker that you can put on windows or doors and they usually have pictures of bright flowers on them to attract the wee beasties. They can be extremely effective. For those who are constantly attacked by mosquitos, they can be a godsend. I never get bitten but many people do and end up looking like a very itchy dot to dot puzzle. 

The stickers were strategically placed around the house and one was put on the kitchen door. Flies and mosquitos were being massacred by the lorryload and they were very effective at their job. So effective that the stickers then became very attractive to a gecko that seemed to have taken up residence on the back patio. It looked like all its Sunday dinners had come at once!

One day, whilst in the kitchen, we noticed a gecko sitting on the window. We couldn’t believe that he didn’t run off. “How tame,” we thought. We all had a look at it until it suddenly dawned on us that it was glued there. Its feet, body and chin were stuck to the sticker. When I say stuck I mean well and truly, unmovably, stuck. 

Our sudden realization was filled with horror. I tried to get it off but it wasn’t going to happen. No matter how I got hold of it, it made things worse by wriggling. It was a very upsetting sight.  

I googled “How to get a gecko off a sticky trap” and I couldn’t believe it when there was an answer. “Use a little cooking oil”, it said. “Massage it into its feet and body and it will come loose”. 

I got out the fry light and got hold of its little feet. One by one, they came free, then its belly, its tail and finally its chin. It sat looking at me, cradled in my hand, drizzled in cooking oil. It waited for about 20 seconds then noticed the deep fat fryer and jumped off my hand onto the floor and scuttled off behind the barbecue. 

Needless to say, the sticky traps are now a thing of the past and the gecko is outside doing what it does best which is catching flies, which is how the whole drama started in the first place.