Angie Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 Although initially terrified of these little creatures when we first bought our house we have grown to really enjoy their company! However, we now have quite a few sunning themselves on our walls and they disappear under our roof tiles and then into the roof space every evening. They make a terrible scratching sound during the night and although annoying we can live with that. We would prefer to leave them alone but are concerned that over time they might do damage to the fabric of the building or chew through cables etc. (like mice?). Can anyone enlighten us? In any case, not sure we could do anything about them as they get into the tiniest of spaces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Théière Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 Terrified! you wuss [:)]Lizards don't chew through cable or make scratching noises, that's more likely a mouse/loire after the lizard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerdesal Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 Lizards are a bonus, they eat flies and mosquitoes. The only real downside is that the cat leaves their tails in odd places and stepping on a cold lizard tail in bare feet is a bit disconcerting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Théière Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 Lizard tail soup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cacknanty Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 But not as disconcerting as treading on a slug.Is there a slug slime remover generally available ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angie Posted June 28, 2012 Author Share Posted June 28, 2012 Many thanks all. Glad to hear they don't do damage as we quite like having them around now. Have a couple of wild cats in the garden so shall encourage them in to keep any mice at bay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardian Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 We have loads of 'gekkos' (as we call them) around. You'll see them at any time of day, but mostly they come out to play at around 17.00. Well ........... when I say "come out to play", Mrs G reckons that it's mating that they're up to !! [:-))] I really wouldn't know about these things.The livestock has been particularly active this summer. There's a little green frog who keeps on turning up in whatever I leave lying around outside: the other day I was making a cup of tea in the kitchen and found him looking at me from 1 metre away on the worktop! He was removed.Two days ago, a massive (and I mean massive) flying beetle came to have a look at us. He stayed around for half an hour or so and then took off like a helicopter and flew off. I'll put up a pic of him later.Finally the pipistrelle bat which resides behind one of the shutters decided that he'd spend the day under our garden umbrella. Bit of a surprise when i opened it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardian Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 Here he is - or maybe here she is ![IMG]http://i593.photobucket.com/albums/tt15/gardian830/HelicopterBug001.jpg[/IMG] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lou Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 Looks like a capricorne beetle to me - that's the mummy or daddy of the larvae that's just chewed it's way through your woodwork......I beleive though that they are a protected species, so you shouldn't kill them.Lou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardian Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 Lou ...............Wouldn't have dreamed of killing him / her.It turned up from the middle of the bois, so who knows where it had come from.Just like a helicopter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardian Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 From trawling the web, it looks like Grande Capricorne or Capricorne du Chene (makes sense as we live adjacent to an oak forest).Seemingly the grubs only feed on live wood. We get regular phone calls from people telling us that there's a major outbreak in our area and we really need to get them in. These people are more invasive than the beetles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gitesforsale Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 I wouldn't keep this thing in your house: you could find all your untreated woodwork infested in no time. Petit ou grand capricorne = petits ou grands dégâts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pommier Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 We once viewed a house in Cornwall which had enormous holes in the beams in the attic - thet must have been 3 inches across! The agent told us that it was capricorn beetle and had been treated, but it put us off buying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardian Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 [quote user="Gitesforsale"]I wouldn't keep this thing in your house: you could find all your untreated woodwork infested in no time. Petit ou grand capricorne = petits ou grands dégâts![/quote]Thanks for your concern.However, it's the 1st one we've seen in 8 years and it arrived on the terrace well away from the house, sat around for a while and departed in to the bois.It's a concern of course, but if I worried about everything that might afflict us, I'd have grey hair. I don't of course !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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