Originally posted on the Orangutan Tropical Peatland Project blog.

In our base camp, when light falls, strange squeaking sounds begin to echo from the rafters. It’s a sign that the geckos have awoken to begin their nightly hunt for insects.

They gather on the walls, near the lights powered by the generators that produce faint balls of yellow glow around different parts of camp. They line up, each picking a spot and hoping that they will be the lucky one who’ll get a chance to strike at the next wasp or moth to foolishly land nearby.

Once they’ve decided on a position they rest dead still, blending into the white walls.

These are house geckos, Hemidactylus frenatus, an extremely widespread species found naturally occurring throughout Australasia and the Americas. And for me at least they come to feel like family around camp.

You certainly become intimate with them as your mosquito net often becomes the place where they’ll leave you little presents to find as you climb into bed at night.

But they’re frustratingly difficult to photograph, very quick to react to movement near them. I took the photo on the right through one of the windows of the office. This gecko was chasing after wasps that were being attracted to the light from inside.

Geckos can range from small ones like these up to 60cm in length. And they’re a reptile, specifically a kind of lizard.

Their calls are also unique among lizards as their strange chirping sounds more like a bird than anything else. It forms the background music to nighttime in the camp. They are the richest group of lizards with 1500 species found around the world and the name gecko comes from an Indo-Malay word that is onomatopoeic of the sound they make.

Their toe pads are what enable them to climb and stick to surfaces so well. They are also able to lose their tail, a defense mechanism in case of aggressive encounters with other geckos, which seem to be a frequent occurrence at camp.

With their cream-green bodies and beady black eyes, I love these geckos, even if photographing them can prove challenging. Even the photo here isn’t crystal sharp but it’s the best I’ve got for now.

If I get a better one, I’ll let you know.

What is your favourite nighttime wildlife? Is it geckos, or owls, or foxes, or, heaven forfend, badgers?

Photo: Matt Adam Williams/OuTrop