{"id":72570,"date":"2025-11-17T07:50:42","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T12:50:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/news\/?p=72570"},"modified":"2025-11-20T08:45:35","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T13:45:35","slug":"mediterranean-house-geckos-making-themselves-at-home-at-utc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/news\/2025\/11\/mediterranean-house-geckos-making-themselves-at-home-at-utc\/","title":{"rendered":"Mediterranean house geckos making themselves at home at UTC\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A

Mediterranean house gecko<\/p><\/div>\n

If you\u2019ve ever spotted a pale pink or brown lizard clinging to the wall of a building, or even hiding out in a sink, you\u2019re not alone.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These small reptiles with banded tails and padded toes are Mediterranean house geckos, a non-native species that has quietly made its home in Chattanooga for nearly two decades. This includes many buildings at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For Nyssa Hunt, assistant director of UTC\u2019s Center for Applied Geospatial Data Science, these geckos first caught her attention on campus about nine years ago. It began as casual sightings, but soon evolved into a long-term project to track where they are living with the help of an online survey.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI started seeing them as a grad student in 2016,\u201d Hunt said. \u201cBut we\u2019ve had reports going back as far as 2007 or 2008. They\u2019re still around\u2014and they are persisting.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

*********<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If you have spotted a Mediterranean house gecko, <\/span>click here<\/span><\/b><\/a> to report the sighting.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

*********<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hunt, who graduated from UTC with bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degrees in environmental science, created the survey during her time as a graduate student. With UTC\u2019s GIS resources, she can map where the reptiles appear.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPeople have been seeing these geckos all over the place, whether it\u2019s in their house or their dryer. They are even outside my house,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve heard reports in Soddy Daisy, Hixson, Red Bank, Brainerd, downtown, everywhere.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Mediterranean house gecko, true to its name, thrives in built environments.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re mainly found in urban areas because they\u2019re able to exploit these built habitats in a way our native wildlife may not want to or may not be adapted to,\u201d Hunt said. \u201cThat\u2019s why they\u2019re called house geckos. They use buildings so much.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hunt\u2019s interest in geckos began during her thesis work modeling the habitat preferences of rare native species like the barking tree frog.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

For the tree frog, she said the goal was to help preserve its habitat and populations. For the gecko, she wants to understand its habits so that it doesn\u2019t \u201cget as out of control as other invasive species we\u2019ve witnessed.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Though non-native, the geckos appear to be here to stay. Hunt said they are often found in warmer, humid areas or near sources of water, such as in bathrooms.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u201cIt\u2019s safe to say we have viable, surviving populations now,\u201d Hunt said. \u201cThey\u2019re finding places to persist during winter even though they\u2019re not freezing-weather tolerant.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Her former thesis advisor, Dr. Thomas Wilson, noticed the geckos well before Hunt began her graduate work. He recalled his graduate students reporting their findings of the lizards in the mid-2000s.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey found adults with eggs in the body,\u201d said Wilson, a UC Foundation professor in the Department of Biology, Geology and Environmental Science. \u201cSo they\u2019re reproducing. They\u2019re here and they\u2019re surviving.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Wilson said the geckos likely arrived unintentionally.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWith imported goods, landscapers may bring in mulch, or they might end up in planters or shipments,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are probably hundreds of recolonization efforts. Stuff comes in and it gets moved from different metropolitan centers.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Neither Hunt nor Wilson encourages handling the reptiles. Instead, they recommend simple observation\u2014and, of course, filling out the survey.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey come into buildings for food, water, or heating and cooling,\u201d Hunt said. \u201cIf they got in, they\u2019ll probably get out.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now a full-time staff member at UTC, Hunt continues updating the survey and keeping an eye out for new sightings. She hopes to take the research even further.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI would love to have a firmer understanding of their indoor habitat preferences,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019d be great to use ArcGIS Indoors to map out in greater detail where they\u2019re at\u2014and what is it about our buildings that they\u2019re using?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hunt and Wilson are also curious how temperature changes might influence the geckos\u2019 spread. Wilson said that future projects could analyze sightings alongside thermal data to see whether climate patterns play a role.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For now, Hunt said she is fascinated by the creatures she\u2019s spent so much of her time studying.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been fascinated by them over the years and their little behaviors,\u201d she said. \u201cThey continue to confound me, honestly, in what they\u2019re up to. They\u2019re kind of like little dinosaurs.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And as for what she hopes readers take away from the effort to track them?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think we would want them to be recognized and acknowledged that they\u2019re here,\u201d she said. \u201cJust like other animals that we monitor, we would want people to pay attention and continue mapping them. Any information that we can get on wildlife to get a better understanding of our ecosystems will help us to be more conscious stewards of our environment, too.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Nyssa

Nyssa Hunt is the assistant director of UTC\u2019s Center for Applied Geospatial Data Science. Photo by Angela Foster.<\/p><\/div>\n

Learn more<\/h4>\n

Visit UTC<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

UTC Center for Applied Geospatial Data Science<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gecko sightings survey<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How to apply<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve ever spotted a pale pink or brown lizard clinging to the wall of a building, or even hiding out in a sink, you\u2019re not alone. These small reptiles with banded tails and padded toes are Mediterranean house geckos, a non-native species that has quietly made its home in Chattanooga for nearly two decades. This includes many buildings at UTC.<\/p>\n

Continue Reading <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2000,"featured_media":72578,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_slider":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_featurette":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[64,70,123864,123865,15,61,3,7712,52,48007],"tags":[126116,83342,126362,124776,83343,123829,122853],"class_list":{"0":"post-72570","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-academics","8":"category-advancement-and-alumni","9":"category-biology-geology-and-environmental-science","10":"category-campus","11":"category-college-of-arts-sciences","12":"category-community","13":"category-faculty-and-staff","14":"category-graduate-school","15":"category-news","16":"category-research-academics","17":"tag-center-for-applied-geospatial-data-science","18":"tag-geckos","19":"tag-mediterranean-house-gecko","20":"tag-mocs-learn-mocs-do-mocs-lead","21":"tag-nyssa-hunt","22":"tag-operating-with-excellence","23":"tag-thomas-wilson","24":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nMediterranean house geckos making themselves at home at UTC\u00a0 | UTC News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you\u2019ve ever spotted a pale pink or brown lizard clinging to the wall of a building, or even hiding out in a sink, you\u2019re not alone. 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