Is That Praying or Preying?

I woke up the other morning after a brilliant night’s sleep.  I always relish waking up these days – my eyes opening to my clean, white linen sheets and puffy comforter, my bright windows and my view of the Hudson River and NYC.  As I greeted the morning with my usual, “hello, beautiful day!”, I noticed that there was a new arrival at my window.

Without my glasses, it seemed that it could have been anything from a tarantula, a lizard, a small bat…but then, when my lenses corrected, it was a large praying mantis, sitting thoughtfully on my screen door, awaiting its prey.

There is something so cool, so powerful, about a praying mantis.  The lore is that they are lucky and remind us to be still, patient and thoughtful, and that rewards will come.  That’s a lot of responsibility for a bug, but I believe she was up to it. 

When I dove deeper into the facts about my new friend, I found out that she has stereo vision – that is – 3-D vision.  And that she can rotate her head 180 degrees without moving anything else on her body.    Like cats, she can jump with great precision – contorting her body mid-air to land on a precarious target.

I also didn’t realize that they pin their prey down with their long legs, and attach with lightning speed. They are carnivores who eat live food, and they’re not picky. My favorite fact is that between 13 and 28 percent of mating encounters end with sexual cannibalism, in which the female praying mantis bites off the head of the male and eats him.  (Treehugger.com).  Why that delights me, I don’t know exactly – though I have a few ideas. They are just so very fascinating and mysterious.

Speaking of those things – it’s time for an Arthur update!  He is now 20 months old, and is the center of attention wherever he goes.  His halo of golden curls, his bright blue eyes, and his quick smile make him a darling in the eyes of everyone who is lucky enough to see him. He is now incredibly insistent that we must read to him – all of the time.  He has favorite books – the Peek-a-Boo series, and he laughs when the question, “peek-a-boo, whooooo?” is asked. 

I got to spend a few hours with him this week and we played with every toy in the toy box, and then he replaced them all, quite methodically – only to start the process again.  It’s amazing to watch his dexterity continue to improve, and to watch his little personality develop.  He loves road trips in the car, and his current favorite foods are goldfish crackers, plain yogurt and green olives.  Yesterday, we went apple picking and to the pumpkin patch. He looked at the goat and the alpaca at the petting zoo, and decided they were not for him and returned to the farm machinery.  We then went to the beach where he explored the sand with his little bare feet.  Such a delicious boy.