You are lying on your bed, minding your business, when you see something in your peripheral vision. It’s not a ghost, it’s not dirt, but it’s a lizard staring at you wide-eyed. You freak out; they freak out and hide in a long-forgotten corner. Now you have the memory to keep you company, and dread sets in; what if they fall on you? So the question is, do you want to eliminate lizards and geckos in your house? Are they troubling you, giving you the creepy crawlies? Do you prefer living with mosquitoes over them? Then you’ve come to the right place. They love to live in my house, and I love to get rid of them. Over the years, my mother and I have tried countless ways, and I consider myself somewhat of an expert.
Disclaimer: I don’t hate them; house lizards are an integral part of the urban ecosystem and, frankly, way better than the insects they feast upon, but sometimes, big lizards reproduce and grow in numbers, and then they fall on your head, and you have to draw a line somewhere in the gamut of peaceful co-existence. The majority of them are not venomous or poisonous but can cause salmonella food poisoning if they accidentally fall into your food, so make doubly sure they stay away from your kitchen and dining spaces.
Without further ado, here are some dos and don’ts:
- Peacock feathers, egg shells, onion and ground pepper are useless and do not work. Don’t waste your time on them. Lizards will scoff at your attempts to get rid of them like this, shit all over them and go their merry way.
- Cats. Pet cats are lizard and gecko hunters and will kill them and probably offer the carcass to you. You can get rid of their dead bodies. They are also not lethal to cats, so you don’t have to worry about getting their stomach pumped if they eat it. Cats are also adorable and are intelligent pets, so you get emotional support too! You can’t go wrong with a cat.
- Broomsticks and expert marksmanship. This method isn’t foolproof as you must be agile while swinging that broom at that lizard. Also, lizards hide really fast and will try to confound you by leaving a wriggly tail behind. But don’t you fall for it, eyes on the prize- the head of the lizard. This is how we usually kill or shoo away the lizards in our houses.
- Keep your house clean: Air out your cabinets, throw away open or leftover food, and clean the nooks of your house regularly. It helps in keeping the lizard population to a minimum.
- Home-made catapults: Again, you need to aim, but the advantage of throwing small balls of paper dipped in water at them is the distance between you and the lizard. You can safely terrorise them from your couch. A wet sponge can be a great substitute too. Laser lights work too. But this only scares them into running away, free to return after a while.
- Keep your house free of other insects like mosquitoes that lizards like to feast upon, and cut off their food source so they will migrate to your neighbour’s house themselves.
- Pest control: Find someone else to get rid of them for you. Make sure you mention it’s for lizards because not all pest control companies get rid of them.
- Lizard-repellent machines: There are a few on Amazon, but be careful; the reviews don’t seem positive. I’d rather not waste my money on them.
- Lizard repellant sprays: There are lots of chemical as well as herbal options, and they are more successful than the machines. No harm in trying them out. Sprays like Hit and Baygon can work too, but you need to use a lot of it to see any effect on lizards. Naphthalene balls and citrus scent diffusers have some success in getting rid of them too.
- Glue traps: You stick them on the wall, and lizards get stuck to them. Not my favourite option to get rid of them.
So here are some ways to be an effective lizard killer. Did I miss out on anything? Comment below!