Crawling Creature

This crawling creature was caught near our dorm. I saw him or his cousin running through our kitchen area a week ago.

I grew up playing with lizards, catching them, chasing them. They weren't dangerous or ugly, just fun. When I went to stick my hand in the trash can to say hi to this colorful creature, the girls screamed and the guys said, "Don't do that!" just as the lizard whipped around and hissed at me.

In Thailand, lizards don't have a good reputation. Most girls are scared of them, even the little geckos on our walls, and the boys just tolerate them. They said this one eats meat and would bite me, and it would hurt. I believed them and settled with a picture.