New bug
I have a new bug. I was out walking in the central City park last night with a friend of mine and her big ol' chow-mix dog, and we saw this odd green thing on the pavement of the zoo parking lot. At first I thought it was just a leaf, but it turned out to be a praying mantis. So of course I used one of the plastic bags we were carrying to catch it, and now I have it in a critter-keeper.
Like most mantii are, it's a greedy little bugger... I popped in two adult crickets, and it promptly grabbed one and started munching. (Ew... at least tarantulas kill them with the fangs and venom first... mantii just start chewing....) But the second cricket wandered too close before the first one was even half-eaten, and the mantis grabbed it too in a one-armed grab. Of course it struggled, so the mantis dropped the half-eaten cricket that was in the other arm (which it never finished, btw... waster....) to focus on the new one.
Oh, speaking of icky bug-eating experiences.... Since I had the new batch of crickets, I fed the tarantulas, too. (And I forgot to mention, Hemingway the male G. rosea is eating again. *whew* It took him... geez... months after his ultimate molt, but he did finally start eating. So here's hoping for a long lifespan for him!) Anyway, I was really close to the habitat, and was watching him eat the cricket... and I could actually hear crunching noises as his fangs penetrated the cricket's carapace! Ew ew ew ew ew ew!!!!! And he'd shift the cricket's position in his mandibles, and there would be ~more~ crunching noises!!!! EWWWW!!!!!!!
Like most mantii are, it's a greedy little bugger... I popped in two adult crickets, and it promptly grabbed one and started munching. (Ew... at least tarantulas kill them with the fangs and venom first... mantii just start chewing....) But the second cricket wandered too close before the first one was even half-eaten, and the mantis grabbed it too in a one-armed grab. Of course it struggled, so the mantis dropped the half-eaten cricket that was in the other arm (which it never finished, btw... waster....) to focus on the new one.
Oh, speaking of icky bug-eating experiences.... Since I had the new batch of crickets, I fed the tarantulas, too. (And I forgot to mention, Hemingway the male G. rosea is eating again. *whew* It took him... geez... months after his ultimate molt, but he did finally start eating. So here's hoping for a long lifespan for him!) Anyway, I was really close to the habitat, and was watching him eat the cricket... and I could actually hear crunching noises as his fangs penetrated the cricket's carapace! Ew ew ew ew ew ew!!!!! And he'd shift the cricket's position in his mandibles, and there would be ~more~ crunching noises!!!! EWWWW!!!!!!!