Lizards can be startling, but other than that I've never had any trouble from them. They don't smell when they die. We had them in Tampa, and they sometimes got into the house (mostly geckos). They were too fast (for me) to catch and I didn't want to kill them, so we just left them be. Plus, I think they eat cockroaches (which we also had in Tampa). So I wouldn't worry about it, if you're able to.