Tuesday, October 08, 2013

Almost a National Geographic Moment

I have read stories and seen photos where a praying mantis will perch on a hummingbird feeder and attack the birds..........but I never dreamed that I might witness it.

Yesterday Don and I noticed a sizeable praying mantis perched on our hummingbird feeder.

We talked about the stories we read of them attacking birds but never thought we might actually witness it.  Lo and behold.....our mantis was indeed stalking the birds that come and go at our feeder.  The little devil got closer and closer so there I sat with camera in hand slouched down in my chair to get a good view.  Visions of a National Geographic photo danced in my head.

So I waited....and waited....and waited....keeping my camera on line and in focus until I thought my arms would spasm from sitting still so long.



 The mantis got closer and closer but I couldn't stay any longer.   Besides that, the camera battery was running low from being left on in full focus for more than an hour.  


We'll never know if the attack ever occurred....but just in case you don't believe it, I'm copying a photo I found on the internet.  It does happen!

Internet Photo

This morning we found a large grasshopper on the side of a park model home.  The odd thing about this one is that he had a bird feather stuck to his leg.  Now how did that happen??  Who attacked who??  Another mystery goes unsolved and unwitnessed.