What bugs ya? or slow day in the shop

[Beap52 1,643]

Found a praying mantis on the shop floor today.  I don't have much of a project going other than trying to solder some LED lights to make them blink or represent a campfire for the model train layout.  I wrote "trying" because, it's getting harder to see where to solder and then my hands don't seem to  be as steady as I need to solder these tiny connections.  Thus I decided to take a break and that's when I found this praying mantis.  It was probably 3~3 1/2" long. 

 

This bug entertained me off and on all afternoon.  It didn't seem to have any place to go and spent most of the day on the spare folding chair in the shop.  The most it moved was when I put it on the back of my hand and it would immediately crawl up the sleeve of my flannel shirt to which, up near my shoulder, I would allow it to crawl up onto the back of my other hand where it would start it's journey again.  

 

I killed a fly and a fed it to the mantis and a dying cricket as well.   As I watched, it  would use it front legs to hold the back legs and bring them to his face for grooming.  It's days are numbered because we are expecting low twenties early next week.  

 

I zoomed in close and made a video of this creature so that the grandkids enjoyed at supper this evening.  They were fascinated and so was I.

[ebinmaine 74,525]

Awesome. 

We like bugs here too. 

 

Trina's really good at zooming in for the right shot.  

For scale, the "rope" is a shoelace. 

 

[SylvanLakeWH 29,306]

@Beap52 you're lucky... if she was courting you and had succeeded, she would have eaten you.