Dedi Cusak, the No. 1 enemy of all geckos

PONTIANAK, West Kalimantan (JP): Dedi Cusak demonstrates his gecko-swallowing skills.

Dedi is definitely the No. 1 enemy of all geckos and their kindred.

The heavily tattooed bachelor who hails from Menpawah, Pontianak regency, eats the lizards alive as a "hobby". He claims he consumes about 25 geckos a day.

"I always endeavor to catch a gecko and eat it whenever and wherever I see one," says Dedi who has been enjoying his strange hobby for the past 12 years.

At the beginning, he only ate lizards to heal his eczema. He had tried a thousand different remedies to no avail until a shaman recommended he try eating garden lizards.

But catching garden lizards proved to be somewhat more difficult than expected so he turned in desperation to their domestic brethren geckos, being convinced that the two possessed very similar physical characteristics.

"My eczema was completely cured after I ate several geckos and I have never experienced a relapse since," he cried excitedly.

He recalled that he was a little disgusted the first time he swallowed a gecko given the fact that it had a tendency to jump around and cavort violently in his throat.

"But, I got used to it. In fact, they're quite tasty, especially if you roast them... they taste like young corn," he enthused.

News about Dedi's rather unsettling gastronomic hobby has spread far and wide. Curious epicures have come from all corners of the land beseeching him to demonstrate his live lizard-eating skills.

"At first, I was a little bashful doing it in public but the money they gave me soon put paid to my shyness," he explained confidently.

He claims that eating lizards makes his skin healthy and beautiful, gives him a fair complexion and helps wounds to heal quickly.

-- Gin Kurniawan and Dian Sastra