I had a very entertaining game of Hide And Seek with a praying mantis today! First time I've seen a praying mantis, so I was pretty excited. I recognised it by its front legs and triangular head. When I first saw it low on a wooden pole I thought it was a little green shoot coming out of a tree trunk, until I noticed how insect-shaped it was and stopped to take a look. I took out my trusty little Lumix and took this digital photo:
I wanted to take a better photo, so I stepped a little closer and that's when it noticed me and did some pretty sweet (and quick!) side-stepping around to the other side of the pole. So I walked around to the other side, but...he was gone! I walked back to where I first was, but still no sign of him! Well he must be somewhere, I decided, and went around to look again. This time as I got around I noticed some legs disappear around the side. Aha! So I moved around further, slowly this time, and saw a head poking out from the side of the pole. The mantis cocked his head a little then spotted me, and we held eye-contact for a split second before his head popped out of sight, like something from a cartoon! Then I knew the game was on.
It got harder after that, as he's pretty quick with those side steps, swinging effortlessly around the trunk. I kept walking around the truck back and forth, trying to catch him, and I'm pretty sure the other people at the park thought I was a little weird. But I didn't care, I was having too much fun. After a few unsuccessful attempts, I finally stepped back and looked up - and there he was, very high up above me, doing his careful back-and-forth walk in an attempt to fool any more potential predators. And thus ended our game.
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