Close call
In this series of 4 photos, the theme is "caught". The Praying mantis in this shot flew into a spider's web in my yard where it was destined to be eaten. I saw the drama and snatched the insect from the web before the spider was able to despatch it.
With web all over its body and legs, the Praying mantis was vulnerable and unable to fly away. Holding it in my hand I brought it inside and using tweezers went about removing the web from its body. To my surprise the insect made no effort to resist or escape, It seemed to know that I was helping it.
We were together for the best part of an hour, and in that time it never took its eyes off me. Even when I moved behind it, its eyes were still on me. After a while and with it still on one hand, I got my camera and began to take photos of our interaction. There were many photos, and not all were well focused (I don't do single handed macros all that well).
As I removed spider web from the mantis' legs, it meticulously cleaned its limbs with its mouth. In this shot the mantis is cleaning one of its legs, while a tangle of spider's web can be seen on the other leg. At the bottom of the shot you can see the tip of my index finger on which the mantis is resting.
For me this was an amazing and moving interaction with a creature we may never think of as intelligent or sentient, but on this occasion I experienced both. I held and helped the mantis until it was free of web and completely clean. Then I took it outside, held it up to the breeze and it flew away.
Close call
In this series of 4 photos, the theme is "caught". The Praying mantis in this shot flew into a spider's web in my yard where it was destined to be eaten. I saw the drama and snatched the insect from the web before the spider was able to despatch it.
With web all over its body and legs, the Praying mantis was vulnerable and unable to fly away. Holding it in my hand I brought it inside and using tweezers went about removing the web from its body. To my surprise the insect made no effort to resist or escape, It seemed to know that I was helping it.
We were together for the best part of an hour, and in that time it never took its eyes off me. Even when I moved behind it, its eyes were still on me. After a while and with it still on one hand, I got my camera and began to take photos of our interaction. There were many photos, and not all were well focused (I don't do single handed macros all that well).
As I removed spider web from the mantis' legs, it meticulously cleaned its limbs with its mouth. In this shot the mantis is cleaning one of its legs, while a tangle of spider's web can be seen on the other leg. At the bottom of the shot you can see the tip of my index finger on which the mantis is resting.
For me this was an amazing and moving interaction with a creature we may never think of as intelligent or sentient, but on this occasion I experienced both. I held and helped the mantis until it was free of web and completely clean. Then I took it outside, held it up to the breeze and it flew away.