Is it "Praying" or "Preying" Mantis 'cause.. well... there's a difference.
My last close encounter with a mantis was about 15 or so years ago in Virginia. I had stopped at our local 7-11 to grab a drink, it was hot out and all the windows in my car were rolled down. Since I was only going to run in and back out I didn’t bother to roll the windows up...
I come out of the store and get in the car and get this glimpse of bright green out of the corner of my eye. I turn my head and look at the passenger seat and there, on the head rest, is this very large praying mantis.
As cool as she was I didn’t want her to get hurt if she tried to fly out of the car while I was driving - or at me which could have serious consequences while driving in the Northern Virginia area of DC. So I reached over and gently tried to pick her up apologizing but letting her know that I don’t pick up hitchhikers. She climbed onto my hand and as I got out of the car to carry her over to one of the landscaped shrubs she promptly bit me on the fleshy part of my hand between my thumb and first finger. Let me tell you... they bite HARD! At least now I am relatively sure that the post coital death of the male mantis is more than likely VERY quick.
Resisting my initial urge to squish her on the roof of the car to make the pain stop, I continued to carry her over the shrub and once there tried shaking her free from my hand. All the while yelling "ow! ow! ow! stop it! let go! Ow!" plus a few less than family friendly words. Finally I suppose she got tired of hanging on (or maybe the shaking made her nauseous) either way she let go, dropped onto the thick leaved branches, and walked off over the top of the shrub without so much as a "sorry to bother you".
I used to play with mantises all the time... I've picked them up and let them walk all over me as a kid. Not once had one ever bitten me. Either it was the luck of youth or this one at the 7-11 had some serious anger management issues.
I come out of the store and get in the car and get this glimpse of bright green out of the corner of my eye. I turn my head and look at the passenger seat and there, on the head rest, is this very large praying mantis.
As cool as she was I didn’t want her to get hurt if she tried to fly out of the car while I was driving - or at me which could have serious consequences while driving in the Northern Virginia area of DC. So I reached over and gently tried to pick her up apologizing but letting her know that I don’t pick up hitchhikers. She climbed onto my hand and as I got out of the car to carry her over to one of the landscaped shrubs she promptly bit me on the fleshy part of my hand between my thumb and first finger. Let me tell you... they bite HARD! At least now I am relatively sure that the post coital death of the male mantis is more than likely VERY quick.
Resisting my initial urge to squish her on the roof of the car to make the pain stop, I continued to carry her over the shrub and once there tried shaking her free from my hand. All the while yelling "ow! ow! ow! stop it! let go! Ow!" plus a few less than family friendly words. Finally I suppose she got tired of hanging on (or maybe the shaking made her nauseous) either way she let go, dropped onto the thick leaved branches, and walked off over the top of the shrub without so much as a "sorry to bother you".
I used to play with mantises all the time... I've picked them up and let them walk all over me as a kid. Not once had one ever bitten me. Either it was the luck of youth or this one at the 7-11 had some serious anger management issues.