There's a praying mantis in my garden!

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In the bathroom today, I saw something moving out of the corner of my eye.

On the outside of my flyscreen, a pretty green mantis had come to hunt (moths often fly towards the light if I am in the bathroom when it's dark, so it's a great spot).

I'm pretty happy about that (and it would explain the lack of aphids this year). Between that and the little brown gecko's down the back that I see sometimes, I'm pretty stoked with the wild creatures that live around here (I haven't seen a snail in a while, so there must be a blue tongue lurking about somewhere as well ...).

(I admire people who have the time and inclination to constantly look after the little creatures ... I just set up habitats and let them come ... a little One-Straw perhaps, but that's ok :))
 
I love praying manti. Praying mantises. And walking sticks. I've actually reached out to pluck a small twig only to find it move quickly away before my fingers could reach! Do you have those in Australia?
 
Yes. We've got stick insects (which look a lot like praying mantis, except their leg's are forwards instead of tucked up in front). The ones that look like dried leaves always trick me, but my favorites are the big brown ones ... they look so much like a stick! I haven't seen those in my yard yet, but I saw some wild ones on government land a couple of miles from home.

They don't seem to move quickly like yours do ... ours are pretty hard to spot, but easy to pick up once you've seen them.

They don't try and run away much either, but they'll climb up your arm if you let them :)
 
I do not think walking sticks have the raptorial legs like a Mantis, but I could be wrong since I have not seen walking sticks in years. The raptorial legs, especially the larger one a Mantis reminds me of a lobster claw. Mantis are a lot of fun and I am hoping to pick one up from my daughter in a couple weeks to put back in my tank
 
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