I absolutely love the praying mantis. I used to keep them as pets as a kid and am always catching them and putting them up in bushes and out of the way of foot traffic or mowers.
What's this weird thingie I found on a tree? I have pics.
- Thread starter Moochie
- Start date
maizy'smom
Songster
Same thing happened to us one year. Tiny mantises all over the carpet, walls and cieling. Whole family combing over everything with mail trying to shoo them into cups and mason jars. lol[/quote]
Yes! Same here! Except I was doing that with two screaming children and two murderous cats in my wake. But it was amazing to see the patterns of nature when I could clearly see them following the path of the sun as the day wore on....I started out chasing them at the eastern end of the house in the morning and ended up at the western side later in the evening.
mm
Yes! Same here! Except I was doing that with two screaming children and two murderous cats in my wake. But it was amazing to see the patterns of nature when I could clearly see them following the path of the sun as the day wore on....I started out chasing them at the eastern end of the house in the morning and ended up at the western side later in the evening.
mm
Quote:
In 1992, we were living in Miami Beach, Florida, (we are native Philadelphians). Every thing was completely alien to what we were used to...trick-or-treating was different, lizards moved into our jack-o-lantern, had to turn on AC to cook Thanksgiving turkey....and the Christmas tree was imported all the way from North Carolina and cost $85 (fot a similar tree this year, I paid $45) so that was expensive. But, we noticed this little walnut-sized ball attached to one of the branches, and just figured, for the price of the tree, at least they threw in a free ornament. Well, on New Years Day, 1993, that cute little ornament gave birth to mmmmilllllllions of tiny little space aliens (praying mantises) that marched steadily toward the sun.....all over my childrens' Christmas presents under the tree.That's when I learned what a "blood-curdling scream" really sounded like! My son was 5, my daughter 3.
So, short answer long.....put that thing back outside, quick, before you are visited by the hordes of little space monsters. BTW, they are an endangered species and cannot be harmed. Good luck!
mm
Most awesome story, ever! I'm sure not very funny at the time, though.......
In 1992, we were living in Miami Beach, Florida, (we are native Philadelphians). Every thing was completely alien to what we were used to...trick-or-treating was different, lizards moved into our jack-o-lantern, had to turn on AC to cook Thanksgiving turkey....and the Christmas tree was imported all the way from North Carolina and cost $85 (fot a similar tree this year, I paid $45) so that was expensive. But, we noticed this little walnut-sized ball attached to one of the branches, and just figured, for the price of the tree, at least they threw in a free ornament. Well, on New Years Day, 1993, that cute little ornament gave birth to mmmmilllllllions of tiny little space aliens (praying mantises) that marched steadily toward the sun.....all over my childrens' Christmas presents under the tree.That's when I learned what a "blood-curdling scream" really sounded like! My son was 5, my daughter 3.
So, short answer long.....put that thing back outside, quick, before you are visited by the hordes of little space monsters. BTW, they are an endangered species and cannot be harmed. Good luck!
mm
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Most awesome story, ever! I'm sure not very funny at the time, though.......
My brother and sister-in-law had a similar experience except that their "little Christmas Ball" (which they had not seen earlier) hatched out hundreds of little spiderlings! That was the last time they got a live tree.
An ex-girlfriend told me a similar story. She found hers on a stick. She said the house was FULL of mantises. I love to find them because they seem so intelligent. They look you in the eye. Like Portia spiders. They actually turn their head and look right at your face.
I was checking back to this thread to see if they had hatched yet! "I can't find the egg case" is probably a really fast recipe for "My house is filled with mutant monster babies."
You might not care right now, but when they wake you up, in the middle of the night, by racing across your face... thousands of them....
What if I told you that was a tick egg-sac? Or a bed-bug case? Or an earwig maturation case? Ewwww!
You might not care right now, but when they wake you up, in the middle of the night, by racing across your face... thousands of them....
What if I told you that was a tick egg-sac? Or a bed-bug case? Or an earwig maturation case? Ewwww!
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Most awesome story, ever! I'm sure not very funny at the time, though.......
my cat in florida killed about 500$ worth of lizards. Anoles in petstores are about 10$ and my cat killed quite a few of them. I just threw them in a corner and had a graveyard of little skeletons.
my cat in florida killed about 500$ worth of lizards. Anoles in petstores are about 10$ and my cat killed quite a few of them. I just threw them in a corner and had a graveyard of little skeletons.
maizy'smom
Songster
Quote:
my cat in florida killed about 500$ worth of lizards. Anoles in petstores are about 10$ and my cat killed quite a few of them. I just threw them in a corner and had a graveyard of little skeletons.
Yup, anoles and geckos. Have you ever watched those nature programs where the otters swim around, catch a fish and start crunching away at it?Well, lizards go "crunch" too, when cats eat them. And some of them drop their still wiggling tails in an effort to escape capture. Oh, and cockroaches. My cat Mona liked to catch a cockroach, pull its legs off, and leave it (antennae twirling) as a gift, on my pillow, next to my head. But the cockroaches in Miami have been fumigated so much that they are toxic. This, Mona found out the hard way. After playing with one such roach, Mona suffered convulsions so bad, she fell off the bed. She survived it, but lost her taste for bugs after that. Thankfully.
mm
my cat in florida killed about 500$ worth of lizards. Anoles in petstores are about 10$ and my cat killed quite a few of them. I just threw them in a corner and had a graveyard of little skeletons.
Yup, anoles and geckos. Have you ever watched those nature programs where the otters swim around, catch a fish and start crunching away at it?Well, lizards go "crunch" too, when cats eat them. And some of them drop their still wiggling tails in an effort to escape capture. Oh, and cockroaches. My cat Mona liked to catch a cockroach, pull its legs off, and leave it (antennae twirling) as a gift, on my pillow, next to my head. But the cockroaches in Miami have been fumigated so much that they are toxic. This, Mona found out the hard way. After playing with one such roach, Mona suffered convulsions so bad, she fell off the bed. She survived it, but lost her taste for bugs after that. Thankfully.
mm
- Thread starter
- #29
I'll just vaccuum up later.. :S
Quote:
Me too. They are so cool and good for your garden!
Me too. They are so cool and good for your garden!
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