The Unlikely Sentinels

Most people, I believe, cringe at the very mention of crawling, creepy-looking vertebrates with scales on their skins and a detachable tail to boot...Sound familiar?! Let me drop a hint -

• Kingdom :   Animalia
• Phylum :      Chordata
• Superclass : Tetrapoda
• Class:          Reptilia
• Subclass :    Diapsida
• Order :         Squamata
• Suborder :    Lacertilia

For the average mortals, who do not possess an encyclopedic knowledge of biology and nomenclature, I'm referring to nothing but your friendly, neighbourhood reptile : the Lizard. 

Just the sight of one, in its element, crawling across walls, windows, loitering near tube-lights or peeping out of crevices, seems enough inspiration for a lot of people to push their boundaries of creativity! Some (mostly girls) set new records for decibel levels with their shrieks/grunts giving the Marias and the Serenas a run for their money while others provide great viewing for the fastest reflexive jump/change of seating or standing place. 

Notwithstanding all of the above stellar reaction-provoking capabilities lizards seems to possess, they are largely unobtrusive and go about their business in a very serene and efficient manner. One possible irritant is the 'clicking' sound they make while they 'hang on'. It is this very business of the lizards which seems to have worked in my favour. 

The window of my living room faces an open garden and as the evening turns into night, a host of insects, varying in size and shape, come pouring into the house giving it the feel of an 'insect-fair' each night. This problem never really existed before and I was happy to contend with just the mosquitoes and fight them off with the all-powerful All-Out. Possibly, the changing seasons could have a hand in giving me 'flutter-irritation' over the last week. Now, to add to my increasingly populated evenings, I started noticing two respectable-sized lizards on the outside of my windows each night (I have translucent windows, just in case you were wondering).

 

The amusing part here was that these two lizards would appear every evening at about the same time, as if reporting to some unspoken duty, and stay on through the night. It led me to think that lizards might be nocturnal. So, they would canvass the entire area and assume their strategic positions waiting for the unsuspecting prey to show up! And show up they did, always...Attracted to the glow of light emanating from inside the room, a plethora of flying invertebrates would end up sitting on the 'glowing' windows, making futile attempts to enter. Alas! The patiently waiting predators would swoop in swiftly and effectively and literally gobble up the insects 'twenty to the dozen'. As a token of their appreciation, the lizards spared me their annoying 'clicks' and left me in tranquility.

As the endless battle of nature's cycle wages on, as it has for millions of years before us, I sit in the comfort of my living room, writing this blog, admiring the design of nature and the unlikely symbiotic relationships it throws up at times! My unlikely sentinels carry on with their duty religiously as I sign off with a 'Hats Off' to the Grand Designer...