My Critter Catcher: Handy Tool for Hawaii

My Critter Catcher opens by squeezing the handle.

Some things in life, like the need for My Critter Catcher in Hawaii, are a given. For example, it is a given that I cannot be trusted to fork spaghetti without flinging sauce. I cannot go for 15 minutes without automatic email download. And I am habitually on time for everything. Until a few days ago, I had no idea how much of a need there was in my life for My Critter Catcher. I was content to use an empty yogurt carton and spatula to catch, cart and release gold dust geckos; primarily because they were the only available tools.

In fact, I’m surprised that Joy Mangano hasn’t managed to invent and market her own brand of gecko catcher. Well, I have no evidence that she hasn’t. Further, on third thought, I guess I should admit that I have no proof that My Critter Catcher will catch a gecko. Especially the babies, because they are really fast if they want to survive. They haven’t been around the block like the bigger geckos. They don’t know what’s what yet. They instinctively know that everything and everybody can eat or kill them.

I read a very interesting blog about gecko poop as I noticed that over the past two months, the exterior of our vacation house in Hawaii now features brown drips that didn’t seem to be there before. I remember our tenants furtively glancing about the yard when warning me the house should not be left empty; it needs attention. I felt vaguely uncomfortable at that moment, wondering what they were keeping secret.

They didn’t tell me about the gecko poop. I learned geckos poop in the same places, which is good, means I don’t have to hunt for it. The geckos poop while they are hanging. An upside down punctuation mark.

Morris the gold dust gecko with his new tail in Kailua-Kona.

Our gecko in the front yard has a name now: Morris. After Morris the cat because he looks like he’s had 9 tails. They regenerate their tails. But when the tails grow back, they are a different color. It is clear to me which geckos have new tails and which do not. You can see Morris above. He is very pretty. He has turquoise feet and a turquoise band around his eyes. I learned in place of suction feet, they have millions of hairs, and they curl up their toes when walking on flat surfaces.

My Critter Catcher comes with a plastic spider so you can practice.

I’m sure My Critter Catcher does a great job of capturing creatures with many feet, like a centipede. We have centipedes here in Hawaii, and B52 bombers that fly at you. The occasional cockroach, too. I feel safer already. I got mine through Amazon Prime. You can choose your own color. I guess you know my preference.

My Critter Catcher could use an extender.

My only complaint is the device itself has a short stick. But it’s not any shorter than say, a flyswatter, which I also bought for slapping geckos. My neighbor says a flyswatter is a useful tool because it stuns them. Yet, when we discovered a gecko on the inside of our transom window, my husband’s attempt to swat seemed more like tapping to me. I was screaming “harder, harder” but that was easy for me to say because I wasn’t the one with the flyswatter in my hand. I don’t know if I could actually hit one. But I could try My Critter Catcher.

And you think all I do is sit in front of my computer all day logging purchase offers on Sacramento real estate or talking to potential sellers about listing . . . I just click my cellphone to speaker and go on a hunt.