A gecko – no kidding – made phone calls from a marine mammal hospital in Hawaii

Claire Simeone, a veterinarian and seal specialist, was about to settle down and have lunch when her mobile phone rang.

Simeone immediately took the lead. As director of Ke Kai Ola's Hawaiian Monk Seal Hospital in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, he immediately set to work. The hospital is a collaboration between Marin's Marine Mammal Center and the Hawaii Wildlife Fund.

"As a veterinarian, I'm really on call for any type of question or emergency that comes up," she told The Washington Post, noting the hospital's four-seater care Hawaiian monks disappearing.

But when Simeone responded to her phone call on Wednesday, she was not greeted by a member of her staff phoning for an urgent seals issue. Instead, she was greeted with complete silence. No breathing, not even a static creak.

In the space of 15 minutes, Simeone's phone rang nine times, each call being identical – from the same number and strangely silent.

"The first thing I thought was that there was some sort of urgency, because I started receiving calls in a very short time," she said. declared.

There was no emergency seal at the hospital. Just a tiny emerald green gecko with nimble feet and access to a landline phone with touch screen.

In a now viral Twitter feed, Simeone detailed on Friday his search for the source of mysterious calls, delighting thousands of people with what has been described as "100% the most" Hawaiian history "".

"You will not believe this story," Dr. Simeone tweeted on October 5. It's one of the best things I've experienced this year. Hold on for this roller coaster. "

After receiving the thunder of strange calls, fearing that something had happened to one of the seals, Simeone tweeted, she gave up her meal plans and returned to the hospital as soon as that she could.

"More calls," she tweeted a few minutes later. "Nine calls in 15 minutes, I start to panic a bit and go back to the hospital, the seal of urgency, I'm on it."

Arriving at the center and expecting the staff members in a frenzy, Simeone told The Post that she found everyone outside on the patio eating their lunch, completely quiet.

"I was like," Guys, what's up? What's wrong? " "She said, telling her staff that she had just received a handful of calls from them." They said, "Well, there is no one there. inside. "

Then, said Simeone, his phone rang again. The call was certainly coming from inside the hospital.

"Everyone was really puzzled about what could have happened," she said.

Soon, other people started calling the hospital wondering why they were called "ceaselessly," wrote Simeone on Twitter. It was at that time that she and the rest of the staff realized that there had to be something that was wrong with the phones:

"Very kind @ HawaiianTelman says that this could be a problem with one of our phones, or with software." He confirms that, yes, a bazillion of calls comes from a line. look at the line of our office, it's not that one, he's asking me to look around to find the line of trouble. "

In seeking answers, Simeone asked for help from Hawaiian Telcom, the hospital's telephone service provider.

"They said to themselves," Maybe one of your lines is in Fritz, "said Simeone.

A representative of the company confirmed that a "bazillion call" came from a line inside the hospital. So began the hunt for Simeone for what she thought was a glitchy phone.

Was it the main line of the office? Nope. This was also not the phone from his personal office or the "fish kitchen" of the hospital.

"In the meantime, I'm getting calls all this time," said Simeone.

Eventually, Simeone entered the hospital lab and it was the phone responsible for all calls.

It's only after a thorough examination of the phone that she discovered the real culprit:

"THERE IS A GECKO SITTING ON THE TOUCH SCREEN OF THE TELEPHONE, PASSING CALLS WITH HIS THIN PIECES GECKO !!!" she tweeted. "This gecko has called 15 times, and all members of our recent call list." She posted a photo of the gecko on her phone, titling it "" Actual photo of the telemarketer * "

Caught in the act – green foot? – In the middle of a call, the malicious creature has spun, activating the landline speaker, Simeone said.

"I did not know that a gecko would be heavy enough to make the touch screen work," she said. "Whenever he changed foot, he was calling someone else on our recent call list."

Geckos, present on all continents, with the exception of Antarctica, and particularly abundant in the Hawaiian Islands, generally weigh about 3.5 ounces and have lengths ranging from 1 to 12 inches. Simeone said the phone-obsessed reptile, who was not a patient at the hospital, was about six inches long, including tail. She added that the gecko was probably attracted by the warmth of the phone's touch screen.

The Telcom Hawaiian representative was also surprised when Simeone explained the situation, noting, "Well, I never heard it before," according to her tweet.

The sly interloper, however, has not finished with the games yet.

Simeone received another call and returned to the lab to find the gecko perched on the touch screen. This time, she said, she managed to catch the gecko and send it outside to give it a much more appropriate leaf.

"He's all good," said Simeone, laughing.

In fact, the gecko is more than good. He is employed in the hospital.

"Well, it's definitely not part of telecommunications," said Simeone when asked to clarify the gecko's new work. "He is one of our specialists in customer experience now."

Simeone said: it's about a real position – part of the hospital's teaching team that ensures that everyone who visits has a good experience.

"I would say that he's prospering at this now," she says.

On social media, each of Simeone's tweets has been loved thousands of times.

"It's hilarious," tweeted @lunasnargle later in the day, "and 100% of the most" Hawaiian "story I've heard in a long time (I say that as a than anyone who has lived in Hawaii for 4 years, I must love these geckos!

And some could not resist the association of the brand: "He wanted to tell you that you can save 15% or more by opting for Geico obv," tweeted @ItMeCP.

"I would totally answer the phone if a gecko called me," tweeted another person.

Simeone said "it totally tickled her" to see all the answers, adding that many people could understand receiving random calls – even if it was mostly from telemarketers or fake numbers, not geckos.

"People really connect with this experience but also find it totally ridiculous that it happened," she said.