Community Lens for July 5

Mike Mauk of Lawrenceville took this photo in Kona, Hawaii in March. “This little guy invited himself over to check out my beer,” he wrote. “No, he did not try to sell me insurance (GEICO). Geckos are ubiquitous throughout the Hawaiian Islands today, but that was not always the case, according to MauiInvasive.org. Though lizards can colonize islands by clinging to drifting trees and plant material, the Hawaiian archipelago’s extreme isolation in the middle of the Pacific Ocean likely prevented any terrestrial reptiles from reaching its shores. It was only after humans arrived in Hawaii that reptiles and amphibians found passage aboard canoes, ships and eventually planes. Thus began the waves of introduced geckos, skinks, frogs and chameleons that came and spread throughout the Islands.