Uninvited houseguests

For the second time in as many weeks, there’s a lizard in my house. The one shown here posed for the photo-op, then jumped down onto a book, so I quickly picked up the book and dumped him outside.

The more recent intruder, however, was too fast for me and didn't land on anything portable. He was on the outside of the glass storm door, casing the joint, when Kadi spotted him and barked to alert me to his presence. (Her mission in life is to actually catch one of the little green suckers.)

I made the mistake of opening the door to let Kadi out, thinking she’d scare the lizard away, and she did. He ran away from her. He ran as fast as he could around the edge of the door and into the house. I watched him race across the den in a green flash, and the last time I saw him, he was in the dining room. He leaped from the wall onto the back of a chair, then disappeared under the table. For a split second, I thought about going under there, but the idea of getting tangled up in all the dining chairs with a leaping lizard was more than I wanted to tackle.

I’ll admit to being kind of spooked by the idea that he’s around here somewhere, meandering over my things at his leisure. I’m not afraid of these little lizards, and as long as I see this one before he sees me, everything will be fine. But I don’t like the idea that we might surprise one another, which could make him jump on me.

And if Kadi spots him first? There go the table lamps!