Staff at the Ke Kai Ola Marine Mammal Center in Hawaii received mysterious calls last week. Only this was not a problem with their phone system. This was caused by a gecko.

Hospital manager Claire Simeone recounted the hilarious incident on Twitter, which began with nine phone calls in 15 minutes.

"I'm starting to panic a bit and I'm going back to the hospital," Simeone wrote. "Seal of urgency? I'm on it."

She arrived at the hospital and learned that the calls came from within. Other employees were also receiving strange calls repeated silently on the other end.

After confirming with Hawaiian Telecom, the company operating the hospital's phone system, "millions of phone calls," an operator said that a phone or software could be the cause of the problem, said Simeone.

However, it was not a bad software. It was a lizard.

"THERE IS A GECKO SITTING ON THE TOUCH SCREEN OF THE TELEPHONE, PASSING CALLS WITH HIS FEET GECKO TINY !!!", wrote Simeone, with a photo of the gecko on the phone.

In an email to the US TODAY, Simeone announced that the gecko had been transferred to a factory located outside the hospital, away from any phone.

"Geckos are very common in Hawaii and they always come up in amazing places," Simeone said. "However, I had never seen a phone dial a number before! This guy surely found his way inside when we opened a door."

Meanwhile, Twitter users have been delighted with the gecko's phone joke.

Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @ brettmolina23.

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