Frightened by a Praying Mantis!
This little fella scared me today!
I was pruning back more of the Up Tick coreopsis, when I noticed something gray and leafy moving on my arm.
I starting screaming (not too loudly!), "GET OFF... GET OFF... GET OFF!" and flinging and flailing my arms around! At first I thought it was a grasshopper, and I hate grasshoppers.
No, it was one of the GGGs, "Good Guys in the Garden," a praying mantis. I felt silly, but he was a really big one!
I urged him onto a stick and put him back on the coreopsis. Hopefully he'll gorge on earwigs. No, make that, hopefully he's a she and will lay eggs to hatch out to eat earwigs, that would even be better!
For all their benefits, they sure are creepy looking creatures! I'll probably be startled by the next one too.
One September, I was sitting on my covered patio when a huge one flew toward me and landed on the back of my chair. Seeing the little neighbor girl outside, I carried the creature over to show her. They are so cool. There is an egg case on a window screen here. I just wish you could tell when they've hatched. I'm going to leave it be until next summer as it's likely from this season. Happy Gardening!
ReplyDeleteLucky you having an egg case! We "raised" an egg case once for home school. At different times we raised lady bugs (they escaped the enclosure!) and butterflies. You can get all sorts of things and info from
Deletehttp://www.earthsbirthday.org/
Oh, that makes me long for the home schooling days! It was fun!
You're amazing. ~nods~ I have a friend who went to college for a teaching degree and failed at home schooling. It's sad. She is too unorganized to do more than substitute teach (still important... but...). After they spent a small fortune on her tuition, I often wonder how her parents feel about that. And *she* wondered why I wouldn't lend her thousands of dollars for a special needs education class. At least she accepted my decision with grace. Sorry to vent so. ~shakes head~ I'll have to check out that website. Thank you!
Delete