Monday, July 25, 2011

The Elusive Tuko in the Limelight

I was in Amarela Resort in Bohol when I read an article in the Inquirer regarding the native tokay gecko (Gekko gecko) or tuko. We were about to take our dinner in the Amarela resto, where I previously knew plays home to a few tukos. I asked the waiters in charge where the geckos are. They were in their usual hiding places, on top of the bar and behind one of the art frames in the function hall. In Amarela, they are already a fixture. I regretted telling my niece, Cydney, that there were tukos hiding near where we will eat our dinner. She got scared of them. Hers was the wise reaction to the tokay gecko.

In the Inquirer article, it said that giant tokays could fetch ridiculous amounts of money. It also cited that it is coveted because of the healing properties it has to cure serious ailments. I am not sure if these are even true. From what I know, they are valued more as curiosity pets because of their weird large heads and eyes, and their colorful bodies. Collectors and reptile hobbyists are the ones that value them the most.

But if you see a tuko upclose, I think you should be more frightened. It is much larger than the house gecko we have learned to live with in our own homes. From what I have heard it could crawl on you and stay stuck, clinging tightly onto your clothes or skin. To remove it you should stun it with the lighted end of a cigarette. Personally, if I see a tuko living at our own house, I probably won't feel comfortable till I drive it out the premises.

Probably the tuko hype will attract a few entrepreneuring Pinoys to trap specimens in the provinces. In the internet, there are sites selling specifically 300-grams-and-above-weighing tokays, which were the ones said preferred to use as wonder remedy. I hope the tukos would stay stuck to where they are and give these exploiters a hard time. May the geckos cling on to them till their thick skins get peeled off!

4 comments:

Admin said...

Poor geckos. Those speculations that they can cure are all myths. No scientific evidence has yet been proven.

Andrea said...

It has already been exposed as hoax. On another note, I would like to ask our Pilipino teachers if we can correctly make a plural term with our local term just by adding 's' to it! Or is saying 'mga tuko' the better way of pluralizing our words? I don't know, just pop-up now. All of us are fond of using this. I just dont know someone who is the real authority in our language. I wish someone will tell our correct way of doing it. It's my common way of saying it too.

metscaper said...

Hehehe. Yup, hard to actually discuss vernacular terms in English. But English is probably the better language to discuss nowadays as Pinoy topics are still deserving to be learned by our foreigner friends. I shy away from using text jargon in writing stuff for this blog though.

Andy said...

I would want to ask for our Pilipino instructors if we are able to properly create a plural phrase with our regional phrase just by adding 's' to it!
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