Reptiles

Reptiles
Silly Grins

Friday, October 19, 2012

Breakfast of the Champion

We caught a praying mantis not too many days ago. And kept it in 'the cage'.

Dad promised to catch a cricket for breakfast. So, the next morning, we all sat at the table and savored our meals together.


Table-view


We were surprised at how fast our guest dug in to his meal.  Son was surprised I fed her, the cricket, to our guest. He could tell the sex of cricket due to the length of the thing on the back. Our guest was released after the kids went off to school that morning.


Catch-and-release; release-and-catch.

Needless to say, Mr. Spider apparently joined into the 'cycle of life' a few days after. Son later confessed to having 'encouraged' that encounter.




Oh well. Shit happens. 


"Sail snake"

we are buddies
and pals to be

'til he peels off

and sails free




8 comments:

  1. Last Wednesday I decided to 'save' two caterpillars in a plastic container with some veggies. I am a bad savior, The leafy stuff is wilty and I think one of the caterpillars ran away. I should have released them but the mister insisted that they need real food not bushes and grass. So I think I kept them captive to kill them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Caterpillars... never thought that much of them until learning about the poisonous hairs they shoot into the air. I no longer shout when I drive by the old ladies who are covered up while they work in their gardens. Those old ladies are not just mean, they are smart.


      Delete
  2. I keep trying to save the creepy crawlies but everybody around me ends up killing them anyways. I enjoy saving our natural helpers. I saved an earthworm yesterday from being dried out after a decent rainstorm, though it was a challenge to pick him up since he kept flopping around when I attempted to pick it up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Earthworms sure do make good castings. Our composting setup is an earthworm-friendly area. They tend to get excited about coffee grinds, but have a hard time dealing with citrus, so we're more careful... nowadays.

      We've been looking at bugs "up close" recently. Our digital pictures aren't going to win any awards, but I'm still thinking of posting a few.

      Delete
    2. I'd love to see em! That's a pretty cool thing you are doing for your kids by showing them. The only bugs I saw growing up were the spiders in the bathtub and then my dad would kill em. I guess the potato bugs were pretty gross too. took about 5 shoe shots before one of those bit the dust. I paper bag em now.

      Delete
    3. The camera is unsteady and not so easy to focus. Our first batch of pictures reflects that. Gives us a good excuse to practice. Our next project is to learn how to make decent slides.

      Delete
  3. No spider murders in my home... Always catch and return to the not-so-great outdoors of my neighborhood.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Our spiders play an important role in the ecosystem that has taken over our house. Any attempts to remove them probably wouldn't be such a great idea (for us).

      Delete