New Critter!

Guess what came to visit the other day? A praying mantis! If it's on my fence it's mine, right? Several years ago I read about people keeping these as pets and I was intrigued. I see them around my yard each fall so this time I decided to capture it. I'd previously researched "caring for a praying mantis for dummies" and it seems really easy. 

Meet Lorena

I'm not really sure it's a female but it's late in the season for too many males to still be living.

So I renovated the recently vacated tree frog abode.

I went to the pet store and bought her a few crickets. Seems she was hungry!

A very nervous cricket finished up Lorenas meal.

Praying mantises are a bit cannibalistic. I caught Lorena looking at and reacting to her own shadow.

Many years ago I had a praying mantis decide to lay her eggs on my desert rose. She didn't even seem to mind the plastic snake and spider I put in the plant earlier to keep the chipmunk from digging in the pot.

Here she is laying her eggs.

I left that plant outside all winter afraid those eggs would hatch in my house! Later it occurred to me that I could have just cut the branch off and left it out but it was too late for my desert rose by then. 

The eggs sat from September to March the next year. See if you can spot the babies in these pictures.

You can click on the pictures to enlarge them.