click, then click again to see him up close and personal. so cool!
a new friend has come to moss cottage. he was perched on a chair on the back patio this morning.
i keep going outside to look for him. he stays in the same place for a loooong time so he is easy to find. i've been talking to him in a cat voice. i can't help it! he is very personable and swivels his head when i come around. his hearing and vision are supposed to be keen. he climbed onto the honeysuckle vine shortly after I spotted him.
he is a lovely charming creature don't you think? and so good for the garden, eating all the ne-er-do-well insects.
i read that in french culture he leads lost children home. isn't that sweet?
On a sad note….they can kill hummingbirds! But I do like to look at them.
They are fascinating insects. It’s the only one I would be tempted to talk to.
Hi Mary,
I was curious because I thought I heard one time that Praying Mantis are good luck….
interesting what I found:
Praying Mantis Meanings in the Realms of Animal Symbolism
The mantis comes to us when we need peace, quiet and calm in our lives. Usually the mantis makes an appearance when we’ve flooded our lives with so much business, activity, or chaos that we can no longer hear the still small voice within us because of the external din we’ve created.
from this web site: http://www.whats-your-sign.com/animal-symbolism-mantis.html
Thank you for sharing the incredible pictures!
-Dawn
After observing this creature for any length of time you can see why the symbolism of the praying mantis deals with stillness and patience. The mantis takes her time, and lives her life at her own silent pace.
Very cool! I love it when I happen upon one of these visitors in my garden. While weeding the other day, there was a tiny praying mantis not more than an inch in length. So cute. 🙂
He is achingly, divinely handsome!!!! Mwah!!
Beautiful photos Mary Ann. Showed my 18yo DD whose dream is to become a photographer and she swooned over your shots. I think it’s cool it’s chosen Moss Cottage as a resting place. It certainly must mean that good fortune is headed your way. I personally think it’s on vacation and your gorgeous patio was not to be missed on it’s trip and so it dropped by. Please try and capture a few photos of it’s ‘travel journal’. It most certainly must have one tucked under one of it’s wings. 😉
Wait til I show my husband this post. He thinks I’m the only one who talks to insects, lizards, frogs…if it’s alive I’ll talk to it…take its picture, too. Photo 2 made me swoon. What a face.
Although….
looking at the photos again, this one is pretty skinny, so maybe it is a “him”.
I think that most of the praying mantids I find are female, especially this time of year. The little boys have been consumed in the cycle of love.
Mantids make great classroom pets. We will keep them a while, bringing offerings of live grasshoppers and crickets (once a cockroach !) and watching them eat. Once in a while, she will make her egg case and one year, the babies emerged too early – due to a warm classroom. We couldn’t find tiny insect dinners so they consumed each other.
I have had some who will drink a drop of water from my finger; others who be heads down to drink from a bottle cap trough like a teeny green six-legged space horse. I am always happy to find them.
Most likely (my guess only) “he” is a “she”.
Mantids are very strong flyers. Several falls ago I found a large one in a hospital clinic waiting area. He (or she) was captured and kept in Tupperware until the end of my shift.
Upon arriving home, I very gently released the mantis onto an oak leaf hydrangea, whereupon he/she promptly took off, sailing up and over the roof of my house with the greatest of ease.
Great shot!! I had 1 on my front porch yesterday. They are so cool to look at!!
Fabulous photos! I love praying matises=so interesting and walking sticks too.
Beautiful photo! I was working at a festival yesterday and had an albino praying mantis in my booth. Not a fan of bugs, but these are beautiful in a sculptural kind of way. Was reading on the symbolism of praying mantis’ and learned that they are a symbol of good fortune.
I would gather that perhaps the “lost” children he is guiding “home” might the ne’er to well bugs he kills…and “home” might not be oh so heavenly.
That is a perfect portrait – shot #2. Thank you. I think I shall have some interesting dreams with that face tonight!
Thanks,
Pam (Mpls)
I love that he leads lost children back home…but how long does it take?? lol
I just snapped a pic of a katydid in my urban stairwell the other day! I must say he was also quite eager to pose!! Or he could have just been tired……he was headed up and it WAS three more flights to the top……
very cool double click shot!
Wow! That’s quite a photo, where he is looking directly at the camera. I’m not sure I would feel quite so warmly toward him…maybe a little creeped out…but he certainly is fascinating.
You MUST watch the Mantis Parable if you have not yet.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/the-mantis-parable/id185731393
DIVINE