Salamanders

What is the difference between a salamander and a lizard? I have no clue but i can tell you the salamander was the only one brave enough to come and live in my house.

A week or so ago i was cooking dinner and i looked down by the door and saw a black lizard. I guess he came in a hole where the door doean't seal. I thought for sure he would go right back out so i just waslk to my room and call Eric and express my EXTREME displeasure with a "lizard" walking into my home. I requested he call the landlord immediatly. As we are talking i turn the corner to go back into the kitchen to see the "lizard" coming towards my bedroom. I scream and jump on my bed. Now why am i on the bed? I am not scared of lizards but the idea that one was trying to shack up with me while Eric was out of town was a little much. My screams apperantly startled the little thing and he ran under the desk. The boys come in and ask why i am on the bed and Eric is on the phone laughing. He would have never done that to my face. :) I tell the boys, who have been honing their lizard catching skills over the last few weeks, and they gather their supplies and began looking under and around.....no lizard.

Honestly, with all that is going on here i forgot about it. I figured it found its way back out or i would find it shriveled up dead somewhere when we moved out (like the lizard that got out in our apartment when i was little). Either way i didn't have to think about it and i figured he would realize this wasn't a house he wanted to be in.

Flash forward to yesterday. After our morning swim i am cleaning house. As i am putting away the dishes i realize one of my mixing bowls is missing. I ask the kids who point me to Ben's room. They had made a mess of some popcorn on the other side of the bed so while i am there i get all the books back on the shelves, toys in the closet, little toys in the baskets and pull the comforter away from the floor so i can come through with the vacuum and get all the popcorn. I see some picture frames on the floor (just another reminder of a project not completed) and move the cord to the humidifier and when i did out came the lizard except in good light i see it is a salamander. I again scream and it stares at me as if i have lost my mind! I call the kids to bring in their equipment and he takes off under the bed. I am going to get this thing out. A salamander, in my mind, is one step closer to a snake than a lizard and he has got to go. We move furniture and get him corner.

Ella and Jack are on him. I lift the night stand and Ella snags him. Jack cries. I didn't care who caught it as long as it was removed from my house. The studied him as close as they could through the hazy tupperware and then release him (after they roughed him up a little. Had to teach him a lesson :)). We run a catch and release program here. Well, at least for those that make it out alive.

Hole fixed and salamander gone. More boys and bugs to come.