One Liner Wednesday – Phasmatodeans

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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