Thursday, October 08, 2009

PSF-The Case of the Preying Mantis

I'm hosting Photo Story Friday today with one of my favorite mommy bloggers of all time, Cecily. I'd like to invite you to link up and play along.

I just found out that I can buy a case of Preying Mantis eggs for only $8.00. That $8.00 case of eggs is supposed to hatch into 200 preying mantis' in the spring. I've read that they are great for the control of mosquito's and flies. Most importantly though, I happen to know first hand that they are great for controlling and amusing children.

My case in point:



My children happily spend hours outside observing and touching (and I guess probably tormenting) creatures that are interesting to look at like snails, lizards and preying mantis'.

Which got me thinking. It's very smart indeed to fill my yard with lizards and snails and preying mantis's. The snails and lizards are already covered. But the other? I'm thinking $8.00 is a pretty fair price for a little amusement and peace. Don't you?


PhotoStory Friday
Hosted by Cecily and Angie

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<center><font size="-2"><a href="http://whatworksforus.blogspot.com/2007/06/iphone.html" target="_blank" alt="Photostory Friday"><img src="http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc50/whatworksforus/pfws.jpg" alt="PhotoStory Friday" border="0"></a><br/>Hosted by <a href="http://mychaosmybliss.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Cecily</a> and <a href="http://angiescircus.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Angie</a><p/></font></center>


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51 comments:

Beth in NC said...

Ha! I'd say that is a wise investment!

A Lady Called Amy said...

Cute!

Dumb Mom said...

My kids are always killing bugs by accident. The funny thing is that they usually play with it dead b/c they don't realize that they decapitated it 15 minutes prior. It grosses me out! In other news...I wrote about my borderline stalker infatuation with you today. Feel free to check it out, but promise you will still love me. Promise? Did you promise? You can't read it unless you PROMISE!

Diane said...

i'd love this myself! i was just playing with one in my yard yesterday. got a few pics of him too for camera critters lol!

Erin said...

AHAH! I LOVE that he is in his underpants.

Rhonda said...

Okay, so first off, which of your youngest boys stood up after the fun was over and squished the heck out of it?? lol

And second, you would be fishing those things out of your pool regularly. Y*U*C*K!

Kiki said...

i'd go for it. great idea. anything to get rid of those mosquitoes. we only have frogs in our yard. they are very exciting to the kiddo. he's not a "bug" kid. take care.

Evonne said...

Ridding mosquitos and amusing the kids...you can kill 2 birds with one stone! Great idea. Go for it!

Stacie said...

That is an awesome price. I didn't know you could by them by the case. I know my son would have a hay day with them! I might have to think about looking into that in spring/summer! My kid loves looking for bugs! Right now he is on a caterpillar kick.

Michelle said...

I didn't even know we had these in Colorado but one landed on my husband and bit his neck good. Did you know they bite? I didn't before this!

Genny said...

Good idea, definitely. :) We have a courtyard that leads to our front door, and for some reason, we can usually find a preying mantis in there. I think they like the sunlight or something; it tends to be the hottest part of the front yard.

Cute photos!

Midwest Mom said...

I always find praying mantises a little bit creepy. Especially the way they turn their heads to look at you as you approach.

But my kids? They're a totally different story. They turn into little insect scientists around them.

It's good to know that bug fascination is part of being a kid, wherever you live.

- Julia at Midwest Moms

Live.Love.Eat said...

Fair price indeed. However, I never liked those things since finding one that was 8 inches long in our house when I was younger. BUT lizards are a whole 'nother story. Love those little guys!!!!

AiringMyLaundry said...

Those things creep me out.

One jumped on me before and it was not fun.

T Rex Mom said...

We're big fans of praying mantids. We get egg sacs every year. They are totally cool. And they do kill black widows, too!

Angela said...

We have one right now that we feed moths to every night! He was sitting on my side mirror while driving and of course Elijah wanted him. At the stop light we put him in a Wendy's cup and he took him to class. We kept him a few days then let him go once we found another one. The cycle has continued for weeks and we are on the 6th or 7th mantis "few day" pet!! Maybe I should buy a case of those since our flies and mosquitoes are out of control!

Amy said...

That is so neat. Where did you find that? I am having my Round Robin tomorrow if you want to stop by.

Ryanne said...

Preying Mantis are so cool to. They entertain me for hours too!

Carrie and Troy Keiser said...

They are interesting bugs.......... and if they amuse the kids all the better! Great pix of the kids and the bugs!

Susie said...

Sounds like a great price!!

tiarastantrums said...

hey - I have never heard this - I have a HUGE mosquito issue in my back yard - so much so that we can not even play out there - it is so terrible. Where can you purchase the mantis' at?

tiarastantrums.com

Grand Pooba said...

Hey the kids are cute and I'm glad they are entertained and everything but that preying mantis is CREEPY!

Cristin said...

I remember being so excited when I found one of those as a kid. I was told that it's against the law to kill them... I wonder if it was true or my parents just didn't want me squishing them for no reason.

Jean Stockdale said...

What a neat thing! I can tell your little flock loved it.

Thanks for stopping by my blog. It is SO much fun watching my children raise their children!! It is precious. Both our boys are great daddies and the daughter-in-laws are too precious for words. They are great mommies and the babies are plain yummy!! Thanks so much for leaving a note about my baby grands. My friend works with me in my ministry. Our offices are in my house. And when the baby grands stop by, we all take a break to love on 'em.

Grayson does not "love" the grass. When I sat him in the yard to take the picture he was trying to figure out how to keep the grass from touching him! Too cute.

Hope all is well at your household. Blessings.

Jen said...

Oh those are great. I may need to get me some of those.

Unknown said...

Fun! My two found a caterpillar on the drive way back in the spring and spent a ton of time just checking it out. Simple pleasures!

Carissa(GoodnCrazy) said...

I'm in! Are we in the same circles girl or what?

A little birdy told me I get to co-host next week.. and if I'm super lucky.. I'll have photos of YOU for my post!!!

Kacey said...

OK, I may be crazy for buying my 3 year old a set of real drums but girlfriend....bugs? You will have a Preying Mantis farm! THAT is crazy. LOL ;D Brave woman.

Robyn said...

Hmmm, I can handle the mantises much better than spiders.

Chris said...

Anything that can hold there attention -- and isn't connected to a screen or monitor of some sort -- is ok by me.

Casey's trio said...

Hmmmm... that sounds like an awful lot of praying mantis's to have crawling around your yard!! They give me the heebie jeebies. When I was little, our cat came to the front door HOWLING like crazy and we found her with a HUGE praying mantis stuck to her face. My mom must have peeled it off of her. Pretty sure I didn't stick around for that part. Ever since then, they've creeped me out. Don't say I didn't warn you if you find one attached to Jacob or John's face ;)

Jennifer said...

Though I understand where you are coming from, I am still creeped out with the idea of having 200 preying mantis around... ;-)

debi9kids said...

WOW! I had no idea you can get them like that!
In NJ, I'm pretty sure it was illegal at one time to kill them. (not sure why)
but, they are cool looking bugs!

Happy Friday!

Maggie May said...

I tried to leave you a comment last night but something went wrong with blogger. All working now.

You have some really (to us) unusual creatures in your garden! We have to go to the zoo to see creatures like that!
Enjoyed your Photostory Friday!
Nuts in May

latree said...

hi Angie, congratulations for being the co host for this week.
I am a bug-phobia. including cockroach, grass hopper, cricker...

those kids are so brave to my eyes. I won't be able to, or even just let my kids do play with it.

cat said...

A great investment in my book!

kisatrtle said...

$8 is a great investment....

imbeingheldhostage said...

Hah! Great bang for your buck, I'd say! I'm feeling pretty pleased with my mothering skillz now, since son number one preferred praying mantis(es?) over soccer when he was little (unfortunately he preferred them over soccer during games). Fun PSF and congrats on your CoHost gig-- is this for all time?

Kelli @ writing the waves said...

Worth every penny! haha :)

Tammy said...

Very smart indeed!
Love the shot of the kids all on their knees on the ground!

Heidi said...

How fun that you are co-hosting this week! I love your story, my kids love the preying manti that we see in our yard, but only becuase I told them they are nice bugs. Anything else they see that has at least 6 legs sends them screaming for their lives. The other day we accidently ran over one of these little beuties and my three girls nearly cried!
I definitely think $8.00 is worth it. You should post the link to this great deal!
If you'd like to stop by my blog I'm at Cake Crumbs.

Are You Serious! said...

♥ I think it's a fabulous idea! I'd spend it although I'm not sure they'd survive in MT??? But as many mosquito's as we have I'd need about $32 worth! :)

Brooke said...

Heck yea, I would gladly spend 8$ on that. We used to collect them from a field on our way home from school when we were kids. We would put them in our lunch box and then would forget by the time we had gotten home. My mom would open up the box to clean it out and she would have quite a surprise! We were such gems!

Momisodes said...

You are so clever. That's way cheaper than a trip to the zoo :)

The Blonde Duck said...

I had no idea you could buy those.

Justine said...

Angie, you're not serious about this, are you? And where the hell did you even find information on buying a damn case of praying mantis? This is just weird. Of course, if the kids get a kick out of it and it might help a teensy bit with skeeters I'd say it's $8 spent well.
My Madison loves all the little creatures too!

Justine :o )

Anonymous said...

That's new information to me! My kids love praying mantis's! This might be a great investment. Entertainment for them and get the mosquito population down for me! :)

brunger bunch said...

Love the pictures. The kids are totally into their little creature. My kids love bugs of all shaped and sized too! Looking forward to seeing you soon:)

Jenners said...

I love how intent they are. But praying mantises FREAK ME OUT! We got a bunch of them around here (for free) and they are always scaring the beejeezus out of me.

Lindsay said...

Ewe! I SO don't "do" creatures like that! You're much nicer than myself....

girlytwins said...

I think that is a VERY smart investment. Where do you get said eggs? I think I might need to invest too.