they are AMAZING!!!
"mono's got a praying mantis!" exclaimed chris from the dining room.
matt and i went sprinting in, horrified at what we might find.
the little guy didn't look too hot, and mono was batting him around the floor. i grabbed the cat and chris threw him outside.
we sat on the floor and watched the praying mantis [let's call him pete] as he struggled to regain himself. his wings were up, and he looked a little tattered. it was the same one matt had seen out his window the other day. he wasn't walking, wasn't moving much at all, really, except for his head, which would turn and study each of us whenever we made a move. matt got up and left the room at one point and pete's head immediately twisted around and watched him walk out the room. i swear this thing was making eye contact with me. it was unbelievable.
anyway. long story short, pete slowly seemed to collect himself. his wings settled back in, he took some small steps forward, and soon climbed up on the table leg and settled in. he was rocking back and forth and while we thought he was just woozy from his near-death experience, it turns out that pete's kind always do that. they move from side to side when they are in a tree to disguise themselves as a leaf blowing in the wind! ah! brilliant!!
you can read about all of the AMAZING praying mantis facts HERE. they are truly amazing animals. they seem to be above and beyond any other insect. i feel very grateful to have seen one of these alien creatures and to have been able to get so gosh darn close!
anyhow - we kept the cats outside and let pete hang by himself for a bit. when we went to collect him to bring him back outside, we saw that he was gone. worried that he could be in any of a million places in the house, we were relieved when he popped down from under the table. we gently pushed him into a box and put the box in the tree that he hailed from. i assume from there he found his way home.
keep your eyes out for these suckers. yes, it has taken me 24 years to see one with my own eyes, but they are out there. and they are incredible.
1 comment:
Beautiful.
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