Well she has been here for a nearly a month now. I am guessing she is a she as she is quite large and the males of this species apparently don't survive long due to be eaten by the female during mating. Imagine that..? "Hey buddy i told you not to touch me there!" Chomp! She bites his head off and eats him. Ah, to be a male mantis, what a discerning choice to make... I have had the priveledge of watching her hunt which she does is in the wee hours of the morning, (probably because the cats are all asleep somewhere.) Someone suggested I put her outside a few days ago, why in the world would I wanna do that? She has PLENTY to eat here, she is fairly safe from predators staying high up on the ceiling most of the time, coming down only at night after the humans and cats have left the room. She really has it made. In all the houses I have lived in this is the 'buggiest'. Just now she caught a small mothlike creature for breakfast. How interesting to watch how slow they move until prey is within their grasp. And contrary to my Mom's belief they do change color to blend in with their surroundings because she developed spots on her back as she slowly rocked her way up the curtain to catch the little moth. She watches me too I think, with 5 eyes I'm sure she can see what goes on here quite well. Now she is cleaning those deadly pinchers and probably preparing to find a good hiding spot for the rest of the day. It's interesting to have her here, especially when she surprises me by being somewhere I didn't expect, like perched atop my wrap when I reached to put it on. "Oh, hello, I really wasnt that cold, really." But she slowly rocked away from it as if to say, "Here, I'll move, just trying to get a better angle on that flourescent light ya got there." It amazes me she has survived my cats, she must be quite smart for a bug her size. I read that they can live up to 14 months in captivity, I really wouldn't consider my house 'captivity' as she made her way in here of her own free will and stays of her own free will, but without natural predators she could possibly live a long time in here. I have bugs of all sorts for her to hunt and eat. We'll see how long she survives my jungle, and hope she eliminates some pesky flies, beetles, moths and maybe even some scorpians and spiders.
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I Am Andrea Diane Epperson
I am a Mom, a Daughter, MeMe (Grandmother, but don't call me one), a friend, cat lover, jewelry maker, & household goods packer. I am Mom to a married 20 year old Daughter, Jesi Winter who is Mom to 2 precious little girls, Lilica 2 years, and Jasmine 6 months. I am also a Mom to a 6 year old little boy, Andrew James. Andrew has a form of autism called Aspergers syndrome characterized by super-sensitivity to his environment and an inability to tolerate loud noises or lots of noise and crowds. Its sort of like living with a ticking time bomb, never knowing what will set him off; A smell, taste, a toy 'misbehaving'. All of the events of his day must be calculated carefully as he cannot cope with change the way another child might. He has improved greatly, for instance he was very terrified of the vacuum cleaner and now he volunteers to vacuum messes all the time. Small steps like this are huge milestones in Andrew's development and adjustment to daily life. Although his form of Autism is especially difficult to handle because of the sheer raw nerves and the meltdowns are simply awful, the up side is he loves unconditionally and is completely genuine. There are no facades for him, no little white lies, because he is incapable of lying. He is a handful, to say the least, but a pure joy to know and love. Archives
January 2015
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