Mantis. Praying.

[Chip]

Apropos of nothing, I thought I'd post a couple of pics from this afternoon. I suppose they could go into the "Fall Photos" thread:

 

[Quietman]

Reminds me of my youth when I brought home a mantis egg case that I had found. My mother put it in a mason jar with aluminum foil for a lid with small air holes poked into it. Well, apparently the holes weren't small enough as one morning we were presented with well over 100 little mantis babies all over the kitchen. I wouldn't let my mother use the vaccum and tried to relocate them by hand, but I think she eventually used it anyway.

Thanks for sharing the pictures!

 

[Peakbagr]

Nicely done.

 

[coldfeet]

Wow Chip! Great pics! Actually was thinking about you yesterday while cleaning the garage. Saw the cookie can firepit we used that snowy night. Would love to do something like that again in the future without having to drive 500 miles. keep me posted.

 

[Driver8]

They are such neat animals - nice pics, Chip.

 

[Chip]

Coldfeet: it's only about 50 miles but you came up in blizzard crusted traffic jam! Driver8 thanks.
This guy was very aware of me and my movement...

 

[spider solo]

Great picture.
I remember the 1st time I ever saw one as a child..I completely freaked and cried and cried and cried. We were getting an ice cream cone somewhere and I was shorter than the window counter where we placed our order. Looking up I see the bottom of the counter and there above was this Praying Mantis looking down at me..guess I made quite a scene...yikes.
(Figure it was more than 50 years ago and I still remember it)
Of course now I think they are very cool. Somewhere I had read that they will take down a Hummingbird if opportunity presents itself but now I am uncertain.
Here is a link where I asked what do they eat: http://www.ask.com/question/what-does-a-praying-mantis-eat
surprised small frogs were on the list...with Hummingbirds though I can't tell who eats who.
(thought it might be an interesting subject, then again with a name like spider I suppose it might not be that interesting to others....)

 

[sierra]

Nice pic. Back when I worked for Lockheed, I found one on the loading dock and convinced my boss to let me drive it the nearest woods to let it go.