This is why US troops in Vietnam called this gecko the ‘F*ck You Lizard’

One Vietnam veteran called the diminutive Tokay Geckos the "reception committee" for incoming American soldiers in country, "the only ones in Vietnam who were telling you the truth."

The lizard is a true gecko, native to Southeast Asia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The animal is nocturnal, so its distinctive call is heard only at night. It was this sound that prompted U.S. troops to informally dub it the "F*ck You Lizard."

The Tokay Gecko can get pretty big for a gecko lizard, sometimes up to more than a foot in length. They were said to come out just when the jungles got pitch dark. Said another Vietnam veteran, who was stationed near the Cambodian border:

"Just when everyone was dozing out. You'd hear 'em in your sleep all night. You'd wake up in the morning, with fuckyou fuckyou fuckyou... echoing in your head."

Good news for those Americans itching to be introduced to the nighttime mating call: someone introduced the Tokay Gecko to Florida and Hawaii. It's best not to approach the animals, though. Tokay geckos are described as "the meanest lizard you will ever see," "the reptilian pit bull" that will not hesitate to bite and clamp down.

It's unlikely that Vietnam veterans are interested in being reunited with the sound. In the words of a Vietnam vet on Reddit, "The jungle was telling me something. F*ck me. I got it."