LaureatesKids

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Praying Mantis

Have you ever seen a Praying Mantis? Do you know what they eat? If you answered, ‘other bugs’ then you are right.
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The Praying Mantis lives throughout most of the world. Its color is usually brown or green like this one, but sometimes they’re pink as well as other colors. If you try to play with a Praying Mantis it just might pinch your fingers with its front feet. A Praying Mantis can pinch and bite hard enough to draw blood so be careful. It’s called a Praying Mantis because of the way it holds its front feet when it’s resting. Believe me, it’s not really praying, it’s waiting for a chance to strike, grabbing its prey with its front feet then biting its neck to paralyze it as the mantis eats its food alive.

This one is a Carolina Mantid (Stagmomantis carolina) They range in size from a couple of inches to almost six inches. Some species grow to almost a foot in length. Adults are able to fly but prefer to move slowly across the ground or climb up plants as the slowly stalk their prey. They are so good at camouflage that you rarely see them and neither do the bugs they plan to eat. After I took its picture I moved this one away from the car so it wouldn’t get hurt.

Given the chance, bigger mantises will eat frogs, lizards, hummingbirds, and even spiders, but one of their favorite foods is the Japanese Beatle. This is good because Japanese Beatles are very destructive when they get in people’s gardens. Some gardeners even buy Praying Mantises and place them in their gardens to eat beetles and other insect pests.

Baby Praying Mantises are born in the Spring from eggs their mother sticks to tree limbs in groups of about ten thousand at a time in Autumn. The Female mantis usually eats her mate shortly after mating just as many spiders do. Most of them only live to be about a year old before dying but if kept from freezing they often live longer.

Some people say just seeing a Praying Mantis is good luck, but you can bet the mantis would think not being seen to be the best of luck.

Several kinds of animals including cats and dogs like to eat Praying Mantises, but their biggest fear is bats. Mantids have been known to fly straight into the ground in attempts to get away from bats. Many mantids also die as victims of bug-poisons sometimes applied to plants by farmers and gardeners. Always use poisons that don’t kill mantises and your garden will be much healthier.

Do you know why it's said that dogs are man's best friend? It's because dogs are faithful companions who want to help people any way they can. Some dogs fetch the newspaper or your shoes. Other dogs are seeing eye dogs who look after blind people.
click on picture to enlarge The dog in this picture is a Golden Retriever who works as a service dog for a man who is handicapped and cannot walk. This dog not only fetches things, but knows how to open doors and turn on the lights in the house. Sometimes he even pulls a wagon loaded with groceries so the man he lives with will have something to eat.

Good dog.

Meet Romeo. If you live in Australia or New Zeland then you probably know that Romeo is a Black Swan as that's where Black Swans live. But I found Romeo in Greensboro, North Carolina. For those who might not know, North Carolina is in the USA. on the continent of North America, all the way around the world from Australia and New Zeland. "How did Romeo get there," you ask.
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Romeo was imported to my hometown to drive away geese-- namely, Canada Geese, who frequent the Eastern United States in high numbers. This wasn't very smart because Black Swans don't play well with children and pets, and they're much bigger, and do more damage than geese. A better choice to run away geese would be a big Labador Retriver with a radio collar.

If allowed to multiply, Black Swans like Romeo could become a much bigger problem than Canada Geese. Leave Black Swans in Australia where natural preditors are able to keep their numbers in check.