Luthin H. Crenshaw, age 10, of Atlanta, Georgia, for his question:

What are geckos?

Geckos are smallish lizards and most of them enjoy life in warm, tropical countries. Their favorite food is insect meat and most of them do their hunting after dark. Their coats are rough and scaly and all of them have very special feet. Their ten little fingers and ten little toes look rather stubby. This is because on the underside each has a pad with thousands of hairy little hooks. This enables these lizards to cling on and climb up smooth steep rocks.

Gecko fingers and toes also have claws that work like cat claws. This helps them to scramble over rough rocks. You can tell from his eyes whether a gecko is a night hunter or a day hunter. If he has a round eye pupil, he comes out during the day. A night hunting gecko has a slit pupil, like a cat's, which helps him to see in the dark.