You mean the chameleons? The wet weather this year, accounts for them.

There is a native gecko that lives around big bend area, but the ones we have in DFW are the house gecko which come from Asia. The come in on ship cargo. I love having them around our house. We have many around our backyard and they are great for eating bugs. I really want to get a colony of green anoles started in my yard. Anoles prowl during the day so much more apt to see them when working in the garden.

Yes, the geckos seen around porch lights are imported. I'd love to see the native Texas one, but never have. Here is a picture:

http://www.kingsnake.com/gecko/c_brevis.html

Anyway, the introduced Mediterranean geckos, or warty geckos are cute little creatures.

Here is a link that might be useful: Picture and facts about geckos ...

Mommyfox,

The geckos have become much more visible since one of their number made it big on TV, selling insurance. They are all auditioning--we'll see them on Dancing with the Stars next!

I grew up in Midland, but spent a lot of time here in Abilene, as well. I don't recall ever seeing them until the past 2-3 years.

Growing up we had lizards that we called green racers and you couldn't walk a dozen steps without seeing a horny toad. I haven't seen a horny toad here in Abilene in the 25 or so years that I've been here.

However they got here, the geckos sure are nice to have around the house and garden.

Rick - You may be thinking of the Anoles that will turn slightly brown or green depending on what part of the plant or surface they're on. They're not actual chameleons though. The anoles can't move their eyes in opposition to each other.

I love coming home from work at night and seeing them by the porch light, its' like they're waiting for me and then they scurry away.

We have a ton of both the Texas banded geckos and the green anoles around the house. I love them! There's a pretty green one that lives on my star of Texas outside my breakfast nook window and a bunch of the geckos living on the rest of the patio. With all the dang mosquitoes and other nasty buggies I'm sure they've got plenty of food.

This is slightly off topic, but when I was dating my husband, I lived in a house with many geckos in the yard that loved to hang out on the window screens of lighted windows. My husband's mother had a real problem with some buggy thing making a mess in her window screens, so the first time I went to meet her, I took her a present of about a dozen geckos I'd caught off the screens. She was thrilled, but I'd wager it's the oddest "nice to meet you" gift anyone ever gave their future mother-in-law.

Geckos are easy to catch just turn on a light very near the window with the screen on and stand outside very still with a butter tub. Slap the tub over the gecko and gently ease a piece of paper over the opening, then flip it over and slap the lid in place of the paper. They seem to like any buggy place in North or East Texas - they're still thriving at my mother-in-law's house.

Maybe a free gecko exchange would be possible to those in need of bug eaters!

I love all my lizards, when I first moved to our house we only had the texas spiny lizard and after trading plants and buyinf plants from a place out in Acton I now have Anoles and Geckos. I don't have very many Anoles but can't wait till the day I do, they are the cutest.
There is another lizard at the Bontanic Gardens I wanted to get one to bring it home but we looked it up and they have to have running water like a river bed, we looked them up and this is what I think they are Texas Spotted Whiptail.

I'd be happy to trade some lizards for tree frogs :) those are the cutest frogs.

We've been in this house 9 years now, and it's surrounded with geckos, earth snakes and big fat toads. I have only ever seen one green anole, and it was recently. But I saw one on the wall of my neighbor's house last week. This is very exciting to me, and I hope they are beginning to populate this area.

We had so many toads in late summer the first few years we were in this house, you sometimes couldn't walk outside at night, because there were literally hundreds of them covering the sidewalks. I didn't see any the past few years, and then this year we're finally starting to see them again. Not huge numbers, but maybe a dozen big healthy ones. I hope they come back!

Thanks for the links, Roselee. Our geckos look more like the Big Bend geckos than the warty Gecko.
Also, the eggs are pure white and oval.
We are also lucky enough to have a booming population of anoles.
I always get a kick out of seeing how predictable and territorial they are. Last year, I could practically set my watch by the anole that hung out on one portion of the fence. At just about the same time every day he would go a perch on the top of one of two pickets.
This year, our "back steps anole", crosses through the ballaster at about the same time late in the afternoon.
The Geckos must have had a good breeding year, I've been catching 1-2 itty bitties per week in the house. I move them outside to a somewhat protected area.