Day 283
This morning I was making my coffee while hubby went outside to put the bird feeders out and water the plants. I was pouring the cream in when I heard a knock on the back window. Hubby held up two fingers and then formed his hands as if he was praying. I walked closer and heard him say praying mantis.
Living where we live, interesting bugs and creatures are a daily occurrence and normally I leave them alone. But this was in close proximity to the hummingbird feeder. I had recently read an article about praying mantis preying on and eating hummingbirds. Not on my watch!
So, I slipped my shoes on, grabbed my phone (gotta have blog photos), and headed outside. I looked down and did not see any praying mantis.
“Those aren’t praying mantis, those are walking sticks.”
I was prepared to relocate the creatures, but since they were not what I expected them to be, I just snapped photos and let them be.


Walking sticks (phasmatodeans) are an interesting little creature. Easy to miss. From some brief reading, they are said to cause deforestation and yet other articles pose the idea they are beneficial because they eat decaying leaves encouraging regrowth. They are herbivores and have a number of their own predators, though.
Funny how we like some creatures more than others. I was more than willing to relocate the praying mantis to protect the hummingbirds but left the walking sticks to fend for themselves so close to the bird feeder where they could be subjected to predators.
My mind keeps throwing this phrase around:
Two sticks walked into a bar…
I must have had Dan’s SoCS posts in mind…
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Ha ha – I’ll have to see if two sticks show up on Saturday. Thanks for the shout, Maggie. But seriously, a Praying Mantis can eat a Hummingbird? That’s like Godzilla of the insect world.
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I know, Dan. I saw some photos that I cannot unsee.
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Nice pictures. Interesting post. I had no idea what a praying mantis was capable of.
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I know, they are very capable creatures.
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We call them ‘stick insects’ over here. They are not native to Britain though. Fortunately, we do not have praying mantis in Britain either. Just as well, as when one got on my wife’s back in Bulgaria, she had a full-blown panic attack! 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Pete, having grown up in this region, I was always fascinated by the praying mantis. I can understand how someone unfamiliar could be rather startled — especially when they are on your person.
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I don’t know both insects you mentioned actually and wow the walking sticks are huge ! Glad they are not harmful
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They are quite 8nteresting and they disappeared as quickly as they arrived.or maybe they are just blending in so well I cannot see them.
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they look like part of plants or sticks 🙂
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oh i didn’t know praying mantis are capable of eating hummingbirds! nice close-up photo of the walking sticks. 🙂
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It was quite a shock to me, too.
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I do the same when something like an unusual insect shows up I grab my phone for a picture of it. We see a praying mantis now and again, and I’ve seen the walking sticks…a very strange looking creature. 🙂
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I am glad I am not the not one. I am forever taking pictures of ‘creatures’. The stranger the better!
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I love seeing the walking stick. I had heard of them but never knew what they looked like.
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I am glad I photographed them! They are interesting and do not look like they could be real.
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Walking sticks — those are pretty cool looking! So glad you snapped the pics.
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Me, too. They are odd little things.
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Every year at the end of the summer or beginning of Fall, we get two walking sticks that latch onto our house and stay for a week or more! Sometimes it gets cold at night, and they die…..falling to the ground. Very strange behavior for sure!
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How, odd, Nancy, I would not have imagined them in Arizona!
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I wonder, will their twiglets crawl before they walk?
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Now there is a thought!
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LOL – love that you grab your camera and the feisty ‘save the birds’ from predators attitude. Walking sticks are interesting creatures, that’s for sure!
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Stick bugs love the east side of my house, where yes, I pile the leaves in the bed in the fall, and leave the bush trimmings in the spring, so I’d say that’s nature doing her best for me and the sticks 🙂
I had no idea praying mantises went after hummingbirds. That’s an image I can’t shake!
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I am sure the stick bugs love you for it, Joey! You do not want to see the real picture of the hummingbird massacre. Nope. Not something you want to Google.
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I WILL NOT.
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