My name is Darwin Kruize, I am eleven years old and recently I found
two geckos in the Point Bush Ecosanctuary. My sister Ginevra, my dad
and my Granny and I came to Waimate on the 25th to check out the
ecosanctuary and see if we could help out. We walked up the big easy
track with Ann Dennison, the leader of the ecosanctuary, talking about
trapping and pests as well as what animals may thrive once the pest
numbers are reduced. Eventually we turned around and headed back
along a 4WD track running alongside the new fence. I had found myself
a walking stick and me and Ginevera walked up ahead of the others. As
we neared the end of the track, I noticed a crumbling bank riddled with
native bee nesting holes. I poked the bank near them with my stick and a
chunk of clay fell out, along with two lizards! One sat there looking a bit
dazed, and the other ran off into the grass. My sister grabbed the dazed
one and ran off to show the adults. Everybody was very excited. Then
my sister grabbed the other one, which hadn’t gotten very far. We had a
quick look at them and took some photos so we could identify them and
show-off to mum! The geckos were brown and they had little claws on
their feet for climbing. Because we didn’t want to leave them vulnerable
in the open; to feet, wheels and birds, we decided to put them in a bush
away from the track. I think that the geckos could be woodworthia
brunnea - the canterbury/waitaha gecko. Thanks for reading, maybe I’ll
see you at the ecosanctuary one day!
