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Carolina mantis

Stagmomantis carolina

Photo by KarenL
Published on Project Noah
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35.8987, -86.9624

Field Notes

Notes:

OK, I realize 2 mantis spottings in the same day is a little excessive but I couldn't resist snapping this little guy - just hanging out on one of the shepherd hooks on our deck, presumably waiting for some poor unsuspecting moth to fly close by!

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Comments (8)

My foxes benefit from any leftover cat food but are just as happy with potato skins, fruit or pretty much any other table scraps I put out for them & the birds! I love to watch all the critters in our yard but I agree with you - wildlife should be left in the wild. The lion project was amazing, though one day I would like to do a more 'hands-on' project - obviously no chance of being hands-on with the lions! :)
@karen, am happy your hummingbirds are safe.We do have to accept the fact that they need to do what they do for survival. i am delited that Dragon flies and Butterflies and Praying Mantis can be so playful. i almost decided to make this Praying Mantis a pet by feeding it my cats food.This i thought of after pyoung send me the link . But then David Attenborough's words came to my mind, " Leave Wild life in the Wild" you are one lucky person to have worked with the lions!!
Thanks Emma! Your spotting is lovely - he looks so nice & fresh! I don't think they change color but there does seem a lot of variation. We have green, brown & black-winged versions. I haven't personally had any problems with them going for the hummingbirds but now I've seen the video I will relocate any I find around the feeders. I accept they need to hunt to survive but there are plenty of insects here for them. I spent 6 weeks in South Africa doing a lion monitoring project amongst other things. We got to spend a lot of time watching them at night when they are most active & it was really fascinating. One night we saw the whole pride spend an hour 'playing' with a porcupine just like a house cat plays with a mouse before it kills it. Luckily for the porcupine they has eaten already that night & they eventually lost interest so it was able to wander off & live another day! I took a few shots but it was dark so they don't show enough to be worth posting. I hate to see anything suffer but I guess it is just nature & every species (except for man) just does what it needs to do to survive.
Lovely pic! My spotting is of a mantis right before going thru molting. i think it looks a little waxy. Right after moulting it was bigger in size and a very lovely green. i wonder if it will change its color as it grows. Not very good that he is going after your cute hummingbirds though!! That is one thing which I do not like about lions too. They go after prey which are 3 to 4 times their own t size. Like Hippo, Elephant etc. therefore the prey goes thru so much torture before it is brought down.
Thanks Doina! I was after an atmospheric shot so I just used ambient light & kept my fingers crossed I wouldn't get too much camera shake.
You're lucky!:) I love the light, "in contre-jour".....

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