Dr Rauf, There are no chemicals that repel lizards that are safe to use in collections (or around humans, for that matter). The lizards are on the walls because they are eating the insects they find on the walls so rather than trying to get rid of the lizards, you should focus on getting rid of their food supply. If the lizards have no insects to feed on, they will move somewhere else.
On the positive side, the lizards are probably eating some collection pests; on the negative side, the lizard fecal matter and shed skin may attract more pests. Often lizards are found on walls because lights on the walls attract insects (I have seen this often in Thailand). If you can reposition lights so that they are not attached to the walls it will reduce the amount of insects on the walls and thus make them less attractive for the lizards. Place the lights so that they are not attached to the wall, but shine on the wall--this way, the insects will be attracted to the light source rather than the wall surface. If it is necessary to remove the lizards from the walls, you can use flat sticky traps to catch the lizards by attaching the traps to the walls where the lizards crawl. The lizards can either be humanely euthanized when they are caught in the traps, or removed from the sticky traps by using vegetable oil. However, unless you can seal the building and/or eliminate the insects the lizards are feeding on, they will return. --John John E. Simmons Museologica 128 E. Burnside Street Bellefonte, Pennsylvania 16823-2010 [email protected] 303-681-5708 www.museologica.com and Adjunct Curator of Collections Earth and Mineral Science Museum & Art Gallery Penn State University University Park, Pennsylvania On Fri, Feb 4, 2011 at 9:42 AM, Dr. Abdul Rauf <[email protected]> wrote: > Dear Pestlist: > How to drive away the lizards from the old buildings? Sometime they are > moving high on the walls. Please give some ideas. > Regards. > > Dr. Abdul Rauf > Truly Pest Solution Pvt. Ltd. > (Truly Nolen International USA) > 1113 Hemkunt Tower, 98 Nehru Place > New Delhi > [email protected] > > ----- Original Message ----- > *From:* Silence, Patricia <[email protected]> > *To:* [email protected] > *Sent:* Thursday, February 03, 2011 11:35 PM > *Subject:* RE: [pestlist] removing sticky traps from a silk object > > Rose, > > Our pest guy removes little lizards (live) from the traps using vegetable > oil…not so good for silk, but maybe a starting point. > > Patty > > > > *From:* [email protected] [mailto: > [email protected]] *On Behalf Of *Rose Daly > *Sent:* Thursday, February 03, 2011 12:49 PM > *To:* [email protected] > *Subject:* [pestlist] removing sticky traps from a silk object > > > > Dear Pestlist: > > A mishap in de-installation opened and attached the adhesive of a Victor > roach trap to a silk book cover. I know from personal experience that this > adhesive is quite sticky and difficult to remove from anything. Does anyone > has experience removing a sticky trap from a textile? If it was silk that > is great but other textiles would be enlightening as well. I will be > performing mock-ups and I can share the information with everyone on the > website if you are interested. > > Thanks, > Rose > > Rose Daly > Graduate Fellow > Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation > [email protected] > > > > --
