Honest Injun I did not do anything wrong! I am completely innocent!!!
Sort of…
Mostly…
*sigh*
Monday night when I finished Tuesday’s blog post (which has been demoted to Wednesday thanks to this incident), I noticed that the outdoor temperature was down to the low 80′s. What’s a gal to do in this situation? Open windows of course!
All was fine until I pulled back the blinds on the sliding glass doors…that’s when I saw it. I quickly grabbed my camera, slid the glass door open then took a picture.
I wasn’t happy with this guy being in the dark so I slid open the screen and went outside for a better view…
He must not have liked the snap of the camera because all of a sudden this little guy had SERIOUS attitude. Not only did he jump off the screen, but he went into attack mode…
…and hissed and clicked his displeasure.
I took another picture of him from a different angle…
…then noticed that fearless kitty Scarpetto had tuned into this green guy.
Though I enjoyed Scarpettos’ discovery of a new friend, I decided that I had irritated this green guy enough so I went inside. When I looked back I couldn’t help but snap another picture.
I started transferring pictures from the memory card to my passport and discovered that I didn’t have a really good close-up. One glance over my shoulder revealed that the green guy was still in full anger mode, so I grabbed the camera, went back outside, laid down on the concrete patio (in my summer tank top jammies), slithered backwards along the patio and block pathway, then snapped this…
It was definitely worth having to brush sand, spider legs and dead leaves off myself before going back in the house.
When darkness fell I looked outside and was thrilled to see that not only was this guy still right outside the door, but his night-vision eyes were present!!
Really, annoying this guy was NOT my fault…all I did was open a door with my camera and never-ending curiosity nearby! Truth be told it’s his fault for hanging out on the screen in the first place 
Great pics! I have never seen a praying mantis in “attack mode” before. Thank you!! And congrats on being Freshly Pressed
Haha…me niether…love it. Fiesty little bugger, huh?
OMG those are SO cool!! My cat would have further irritated him, then killed and ate him as she never lets an insect live beyond its ability to amuse her.
Thanks for sharing these I had no idea they did that when irritated!
Marti
wow, the upright pose shot is amazing. i recently snapped some pics of a praying mantis on my patio, but all that one did was jump onto the camera lens!
Yikes! I would have jumped out of my shoes had that happened to me!!
Love the second to last picture!
Great pictures! I get tons of Mantis (or is it mantises? or manti?) by my house. They are great to take photos of!
Great capture here. these are really good shots. Loved the narrative, too.
Funny! But technically, it could be your fault:)
Yea, I know, but it was so much more fun to shift the blame
Definitely not your fault! (That’s just the sort of thing I would do, only I don’t have a cat.)
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I love it! That’s part of the beauty of photography, being in the right moment with your camera. Amazing job!
That is one funky angry dance.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Laura Hargreaves and Things, Judy S. Judy S said: OMG – this was seriously NOT my fault – but it was cool!
http://tinyurl.com/2dklz4w [...]
I’ve never seen a praying mantis do that before. Great pics!
Cute kitty! I have a black cat, too.
It’s like nature’s version of the Karate Kid pose. The only thing missing is Mr. Miyagi.
very cool pics!
Wow, what an amazing story! Those pictures you got are fabulous! Congrats on getting Freshly Pressed!
Thanks so much for the compliments and congrats!
Hi! Super funny post and the pics are great. This is one post my fourth grader will really like.
Congrats on being Freshly Pressed!
Thanks so much!! I’ll be curious to hear what your fourth grader thought of my little adventure!
Wow these photos are AWESOME! I’ve never seen one not praying!
http://www.denwrites.com
That’s AWESOME! I have never seen a picture of one in attack mode! Not even in “A Bug’s Life”! lol
Great pictures, though unfortunate you had to antagonize the poor guy so much for them. But you didn’t harm him or even touch him in any way so really no harm done.
I daresay the lovely photographs were very much your fault.
Nice shots!
Crystal
http://www.crystalspins.com
These are amazing. I can’t believe he stuck around for so long! On another note, I love when my cats play hide and seek with bugs…always fun to watch. Never as colourful as this however!
That’s really cool. Some insects are very interesting. My son would love to see one. He’s always asking me to help him catch bugs in his bug catcher (vacuum thingy). The praying mantis is definitely one of the best.
http://brianwawryk.wordpress.com
These are some really great photos! Thanks for sharing them!
Great photos. You had me in suspense though thinking that praying mantis had attacked you when taking those pics! Anyways, glad to know that was not the case and that your protective kitty didn’t have to end the little bug’s life
Congrats on Freshly Pressed! LB
Now that’s something you don’t see much of in England…
Wow, though. I’ve never seen a praying mantis like that before!
Love the pictures.
wow that was so cute
hahaha
really great photos you have here
he looked like a ninja for some reason haha =))
Great Photos! I’ve watched some documentary specials about the mentioned praying mantis. How they hunt and survived in the wilderness.
Judy, there is nothing left to say……….keep snapping, love them.
When we moved into our new house in Washington D.C. in 1950, we had a completely overgrown back yard. It turned out to be full of HUGE preying mantises. I found one that was 13 inches long! Of course, my brother and I used it to terrorize my sister.
Great pictures! I’m actually kind of sad that I didn’t take them myself
Too bad we don’t even have any of those… praying mantis thingies… over here. And the time for the low eighties is definitely over, and fall’s coming real fast.
What a presence of mind to capture all those moments.
The mantis can not be angry…you have made it immortal. May be that is what was its intention while posing for you.
I love praying mantises. Here in Oregon, I have seen/held a few. Also, my ‘buddies” did not go into attack mode. Maybe next time, I’ll get one of them to “pose”.
You must be too nice – they never felt they had to defend themselves!
Wow. That is one funky pose. Poor mantis. He’s trying so hard to scare you off.
Thanks for sharing these great photos.
Great pictures!!
Have never seen the defence mechanisms of a praying mantis…very cool! Love that 2nd pic of the cat looking at it.. Congrats on being Freshly Pressed!
Oh man – what fun! Those guys are freaky looking, but those are some great photos! Love it.
good choice coming back for a close up…that is the best shot that has come out so well!!!loved your narration style too!!!
cheers!
Love these pics, especially the next to the last one. He looks like he’s ready to pounce!
http://simplysolo.wordpress.com
I never thought of a mantis going into transformers mode. We made pets of them. Never occurred to us to get pictures! Thanks for the great photo story.
Great post, and congratulations on getting Freshly Pressed! For a minute, I thought your blog was going in the direction of, “It really wasn’t my fault that the cat ate the praying mantis.” Whew! Glad that wasn’t the gist!
WOW! Great pictures!!!
Great pics! I’ve seen praying mantis get angry, but never with such a display! I love how he makes himself look ‘bigger’. Worth the sidewalk slink!
aarrgghh that is so freaky!! Absolutely amazing photos!
http://sylviangirl.wordpress.com/
Very cool pictures! Never saw a praying mantis do that before either! Ewww, but neat too! Congrats on being Freshly Pressed! I can’t believe the cat didn’t eat the bug…I guess the scary act did work!
evelyngarone.com
I’ve never seen that before. It’s almost alien.
I have never, ever seen a praying mantis act so angry! It is kind of cute.
I LOVE your scary bug attack pictures! Good camera, and kudos for getting down on the pavement to take the pics, it was worth it!
Thanks so much!!!! As for getting down to take the picture, that is something I learned from a teenage professional photography friend of my nephew’s. When taking pictures don’t be afraid to get low or get high – doing so can lead to awesome results!
Great pics!
incredible!
Brilliant photos. Never knew a praying mantis could do that. Love the pic of your cat looking at it as if thinking “WTF?”
Awesome! I’d like to see a bear in attack mode next, please?
You are too funny
If I get an appropriate zoom lens I’ll consider it 
Wow!
Wow amazing pics!!
That second to the last photo is awesome!
http://joshsuds.wordpress.com
That was wicked cool stuff! Thanks for the pictures.
OMG! I live in Central Cali and I had the same thing happen to me on Sunday afternoon!!!! I took the same picture (I should probably send it to you, lol)! He was propped up on my screen door as I pulled back the curtain to open the sliding glass door. What a weird coincidence. I wonder if he traveled south from my house to yours!?! LOL.
I’m originally from Miami, FL and just moved here in Feb of this year so this is my first close encounter with one of these things…eekkkkk!
Cool post! and super cool pics. I think he liked his picture being taken… lol. Congrats on freshly pressed!
~Elle
cool pics. never saw a praying mantis, let alone one that wanted to open a can of whoop ass. that 2nd to last pic gave me the impression that he was gonna go after you!
I love these! I’ve never seen a Praying Mantis in attack mode. I didn’t even realize they HAD an attack mode!
Talk about ninja pose! LoL Great shots. I’ve never seen one of them mad before this, so it’s interesting (and slightly funny).
Penny
Wow, those are great pictures, I’ve never seen anything like that before.
Thank you for sharing.
It doesn’t really matter that a grasshopper is smaller than me by oodles, if that “grasshopper rage” had been directed at me, I would have ran far, far away….
Great pictures!!! Congrats on being on Freshly Pressed!
This was so cool … and yet very gross. I will now have to take a shower. Ewww, I feel bugs are every where now.
Congrats on being FP’d!
marinasleeps.wordpress.com
Great Pics!!
Drop by at my blog
http://nothingexistswithtime.wordpress.com/
That is awesome! Congrats on being Freshly Pressed!
Best. insect. photos. ever. And what “bravery!”
Beautiful pictures!
Awesome pics — especially the ones in attack mode. Congrats on being Freshly Pressed.
Thanks Miss Kelly!!!!
COOL
Oh these are wonderful, great timing, great pics, well manered kitty (sometimes they are so enthralled they won’t eat the bugs,) and congrats on being Fresh Picked.
~WhaleMaiden~
I mean, Fresh Pressed!!
Man. That dude looks pretty ticked off.
http://aspiringveghead.wordpress.com
Great photos, fun post. Congratulations on being freshly pressed. I think thats what you call it.
What amazing pictures. I wish I could get pictures like that. Congrats on being freshly pressed!
Cool!!
Now I have a visual of the ‘praying mantis’ pose. Very nice pics! (Have you missed your calling?)
Thanks for sharing!
blessings
ann
Thanks for the compliment on my photography! I do love having a camera in front of my face
You may not realize this but these are really awesome pics! My Dad is an entomologist and he just stood behind me with his mouth hanging open at the Praying Mantis (female) in attack mode!
cool that you captured the green guy….that’s very cool….so where will you be in ten years?!
Thank you Forest and Forest’s dad, not only for the compliment but for letting me know that it is a she not a he!!!
She is back again tonight but this time up on the overhang for my roof. This is the third day in a row she’s been here – I’m beginning to think she likes me
[...] Then, when I logged into WordPress I saw the post below on Freshly Pressed. Is there some sort of mantis ninja takeover? You have to check out the amazing pictures. Honest Injun I did not do anything wrong! I am completely innocent!!! Sort of… Mostly… *sigh* Monday night when I finished Tuesday’s blog post (which has been demoted to Wednesday thanks to this incident), I noticed that the outdoor temperature was down to the low 80′s. What’s a gal to do in this situation? Open windows of course! All was fine until I pulled back the blinds on the sliding glass doors…that’s when I saw it. I quickly grab … Read More [...]
[...] Honest Injun I did not do anything wrong! I am completely innocent!!! Sort of… Mostly… *sigh* Monday night when I finished Tuesday's blog post (which has been demoted to Wednesday thanks to this incident), I noticed that the outdoor temperature was down to the low 80's. What's a gal to do in this situation? Open windows of course! All was fine until I pulled back the blinds on the sliding glass doors…that's when I saw it. I quickly grab … Read More [...]
[...] Sep This was a random post that WordPress recommended. Love the pics. I wish I can get some shots like [...]
awesome ! never seen a green praying mantis attacking U
:)
J.
I’ve never seen a Praying Mantis so pissed off before! You must have been taunting him and wiggling your fingers at him or something.
It looks so cool when he’s in mad mode I’d keep on aggravating him too.
I’m telling you, that guy’s from the Kung Fu Panda. I’m sure of it. “Hiyeaaah! Wanna die? Wanna die?” X)
)
She looks like she’s singing in the 6th picture with her hands raised and her body leaning back like that
Congratulations on making it to Freshly Pressed!
This is one of the coolest, most random posts I’ve ever seen. Great stuff!
nice pictures!! for some reason i got reminded of Karate Kid (the original one)
you don’t get to see this everyday. thanks for sharing!
Amazing photos without a doubt, however, I am quite disgusted and frightened at the site of bugs and creepy crawlies, it’s just a fear I grew up with, hard to get rid of now…
If you’ve the time, check out my blog!
http://solshards.wordpress.com/
Love it!!
wow great mantis..
cool pic..
wot did u do, so that insect could pose like dat..LOL
Thank you so much for this. And congrats on happening to be on freshly pressed. I think it’s a lottery.
There is nothing appealing about so many of the options. Yours drew me in … don’t know why.
Great job at taking that last close up! (Only a true blogger would’ve done what you did). I’ve never seen a mantis in its full glory.
I love LOVE your close up of the preying mantis in full on attack mode. Do you sell your pictures? I’d love a copy of that!
Jilllian
Hi Jillian -
Please check your e-mail — I’ll be sending one in few seconds…
That is wicked! You couldn’t possibly get better poses! I’m sure a couple of those pic’s are worth some $$
Thanks so much!!! I’ve been creating a portfolio of pictures on a wide range of subjects – all for fun but who knows…!
First off…fantastic photos.Absolutely loved them! And the post….truly enjoyable. Thanks!
Those are such awesome pictures! Congrats on the Freshly Pressed!!
Not an original comment, but really cool photos!
I’m terrified of teh praying mantis (plenty in India). Nice shots! Congrats on being freshly pressed!
I’m a developer @ http://www.philcoders.com just browsing mindlessly looking for inspiration for the next web design i will make then i arrived here! I really liked the pics specially that second and the third to the last ones! Those are really inspirations!
[...] Honest Injun I did not do anything wrong! I am completely innocent!!! Sort of… Mostly… *sigh* Monday night when I finished Tuesday's blog post (which has been demoted to Wednesday thanks to this incident), I noticed that the outdoor temperature was down to the low 80's. What's a gal to do in this situation? Open windows of course! All was fine until I pulled back the blinds on the sliding glass doors…that's when I saw it. I quickly grab … Read More [...]
Oh my gosh, love it! What a trip when he went all kung fu!
I had one ride on my car’s side view mirror for six miles. I can’t believe it survived. I wrote a blog post on it a few days ago.
Funny, how they keep popping up everyone. A lot of animal symbolism is related to them.
For your kitty, it was lunch.
Awesome pictures! I would have been right out there in my jammies, too!!! Awesome pics and I have never seen one all enraged like that either! Thanks for sharing! They seem to be popping up all over!!! My son rescued one from his car tire!!! Just in time!
Loved the praying mantis “attack mode”, reminded of the one in Kung Fu Panda! hahaha.And the cat was like “WTF are you doing little guy?” haha.
Visit my blog too! I’m kinda new in the blogosphere and I need more views, help me out please?
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hahaha!! this is aweosme
Amazing photographs!
Some of the commentators saw the similarities but didn’t complete the connection – the mantis’ aggressive pose DID influence a Chinese Martial Art style – The Northern Praying Mantis
http://www.mardb.com/northern-praying-mantis/
The first mantis I ever saw was in No. Calif. I went to put my hand on a railing and there it was. It turned and looked me straight in the eyes. I thought little laser beams would come out or something, scared me to death. I was about 30 and yet I screamed all the way up the stairs. Your photo’s are amazing. I’m glad the mantis did not do that to me. I thing I would have moved back to Wash. St.
Well I loved seeing a preying mantis in attack mode even though usually I’m a typical girly girl when it comes to creepy-crawlies and I’m scared out of my skin. But actually he was more cute than threatening, for some reason that I can’t put my finger on.
Great photos!
Amazing pictures! Never seen a preying mantis up close before.
I honestly had no idea those cute little praying mantis bugs could even DO that!? Not so pious after all! Thanks for braving the sand, leaves and spiders to share your great pics with us.
Amazing action pics!! Nice to look at, but I have to say I would’ve have left the investigation to my cat and swiftly closed the window…lol…
Great pics
[...] Though I am always busy, I’m taking the time to enjoy everything around me. How many other nearly 50-year olds do you know who crawl around on their stomachs to photograph a praying mantis? Heck, how many of them would have even taken the time to see the green gal, or pause long enough to irritate her with one’s curiosity and cause such an awesome display? [...]
Oooh! It’s a bit like watching a ninja having a hissy fit.
Great pics, really entertaining
That poor little guy. Honestly, it really wasn’t your fault. He decided to hang out on your screen door. It was he that suprised you!
I love the pictures, and quirky little story. Thank you for giving me a bit of a chuckle today!
You’re welcome Stacy! Thanks for dropping by and chatting a bit! Drop in any time
Judy – I just have to say I have read and enjoyed all the comments on this particular blog……….still think it is a great one.
Funny and amazing. I didn’t know they did that! It looks so cool.
Thanks so much! I didn’t know they did this either until a year or so ago when my cat startled one in my front yard.
As much as the title of this post says otherwise, rattling this gal’s cage was totally my fault – tho the kitty enjoyed the view
The blog is really great. I loved it. and enjoyed reading the post. It was full of humor and i was still laughing as the post ended. The pics were wonderful.
[...] I Did It Again! Remember my awesome post about the praying mantis? Well folks, I did it again! But this time the “victim” wasn’t a praying [...]
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