Today whilst reading New York Times’ wonderful article on why boy mammoths tended to die in silly ways, I was inspired to go “Like” The New York Times Science facebook page. They are currently featuring a pink praying mantis as their profile pic. Perusing the comments on this pic led me to one that said praying mantises have been known to eat hummingbirds. I know, I didn’t believe this either.

Naturally, I was skeptical. My disbelief gave way to a Google search wherein I found actual photos of a preying mantis eviscerating a hummingbird. I promptly posted that to my facebook page.

What happened next is an astounding God shot of synchronicity… A moment or two after  posting on facebook, I noticed how gloomy it was out my window and with the probable rain I went out to my deck to remove the cushions. I shook the autumn leaves off of one particular cushion and ===voila!=== a green praying mantis jumped onto the deck! What are the odds that I would have such an experience? It’s only the second mantis I’ve seen here in 11 years of living in North Carolina. (Read about the first one here. )

I do have another praying mantis story from the past summer. That tale involves a bright orange praying mantis, an exotic location, and some shattered glass. But I can’t tell you everything. Can I?