Lizards in Lanzarote
One of the friendliest creatures you are likely to come across, in your home or garden, is the East Canary gecko. Known to locals as perinquíns or perenquíns, these timid little creatures are very shy, but utterly charming. If you manage to get close enough, you can see that their eyes are like molten gold. They come with various coloured markings up their sides, from an emerald green to an azure blue.
We’ve had a few come to visit us, and they’re always made to feel welcome - particularly as they happily munch their way through flies and mosquitoes for you. We had one with us for quite some time at our old house… nicknamed Gordon (by Alan’s eldest). We knew it was the same one, because he came a cropper with our dog in the early days… which led to the loss of his tail. Fortunately, geckos (as with most lizards) can grow their tails back afterwards - as we were able to see with Gordon. His grew back very smooth, compared to the ridges and bumps over the rest of his body.
They thrive in the lava walls that decorate so many properties in Lanzarote, and you’ll often see them scurrying for cover amongst the roadside shrubbery.
They are part of the (Latin) gekkonidae and are known in Latin as “tarentola angustimentalis”.They were classified by Franz Steindachner, an Austrian zoologist, in 1891. This was during his time as director of the zoological department of Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna. he later became director of the museum in 1898.
The picture below was kindly donated by Brynette - an artist and Lanzarote lover, who 
has lived on the Island for some years now… painting and photographing as much as she possibly can. To find out a little more about Brynette, you can visit her website www.brynette.com
Click the image to see it larger.
