Early in the morning of October 18th, I spied Gracie in the window wanting something very badly. She is our huntress and, as a result, I always pay attention to her behavior. She has found four or five small scorpions so far not to mention spiders galore and a couple geckos since we rescued her. And oh, she adores grasshoppers and hunts them with a passion whenever she is brave enough to go outdoors (with supervision).
Anyway, she would try to get this critter; but, she could not due to the glass between her and the thing. Do you see it? Below is the same picture with a yellow arrow pointing to the critter just in case you do not see it.
So, what was the critter? I went outside and discovered this:
I went outside later in the morning in an attempt to take pictures in better lighting; but, the thing moved to a different location. When I started to snap pictures after locating it, it 'flew' away scaring me half to death. I guess the mantis thought I was a predator. Ha!
This is the first time in my life I ever witnessed one of these "fly". I will be more careful in the future when I attempt to take pictures as I would hate to hurt one of these beautiful critters. Yes, I screamed like a girl; but, I managed to remain still while tracking its flight. I have to tell you it was extremely cool watching it "fly". I wish I had the sense to try snapping pictures while it flew. But, I was just too dumbfounded and amazed. Maybe next time if there is a next time.
I had no idea that they could fly, either! I'll bet it was an awesome site with its long body.
ReplyDeleteI noticed your picket fence through the window. It looks nice! I would love to have a picket fence.