Calvin is away with his Dad this weekend hunting and low and behold his pet Praying Mantis "Manti" died today. He found her on our front porch the beginning of October 2008. He brought her inside in a cup, the next day we added a few shrubs to the because she was clinging to the top of the cup where the saran wrap was with holes poked in it for air. She loved the new little twigs and was able to climb down them. The next day his Daddy was helping him empty a huge Costco pickle jar to make her a new home in. Will spent a lot of time cleaning it so it wouldn't smell so bad and caught her some crickets. I thought it was neat but bugs freak me out so I was ready for her to go back outside. Calvin wanted to keep her and promised to take care of her. He was scared to death of bugs also but through Dad's persistence he eventually learned how to be a great cricket catcher using a piece of cardboard from a box of crackers or cereal box and a plastic cup. Manti provided hours and hours of total fascination for us all as we gazed through the glass watching her hang upside down motionless for hours until the exact moment a cricket hoped or crawled by her and then she'd snatch it up and start eating it. Gross but very interesting all the same. It was better than Discovery Channel because it was live! Calvin captured a couple of smaller praying mantis that were males and they didn't last long just a few days because she ate them too! She ended up laying 6 egg sacks on some twigs in there that have never hatched but according to the Internet research I did she should have died 2-3 weeks after the egg sacks but she lasted 3 more months!
She was neat every time we would stop and look at her if she wasn't sleeping she would turn her head and look right at you with those big eyes that would change from green to almost all black. It was like her pupils were dilating very big. Anyways she would eat crickets in the beginning 2 a day but then right before she laid an egg sack she'd stop eating for 2-3 days and we would think she was going to die. She eventually slowed down to one cricket a day and we always knew when she was ready to eat because she would get down low to the bottom of the jar where the rocks were and hang upside down in the position she used to catch crickets.
Last night the boys had been gone for one whole day and I knew that she needed to eat so I found a cricket and put it in her pickle jar. I know the things a Mother does for her children's pets! :o) Anyways this morning the cricket was gone but Manti was very low on the twig with her feet touching the ground but head up and so I turned the jar to see if she was awake...nothing. I think kind of shook the jar but nothing. I sprinkled some drips of water down but still nothing so I took the straw and nudged her and nothing. I thought OH NO poor Calvin is going to be so sad especially since he isn't even here. I had just blogged about how she was still alive and well on my blog. Anyways then I told Kenna that I thought Manti was dead and so she went down stairs and practically did the same things and nothing. Manti was on her back with her praying arms up in the air looking like a stick. McKenna made a rest in peace sign for her and taped it to her jar. 
I then text Will and told him the sad news. Later this evening Will called me and said he had told Calvin and he took it quite well. Calvin got on the phone with me and asked me if we had buried her yet and I said no she was still in her jar and he said GOOD. Please leave her there until I get home tomorrow night and I'll say goodbye and bury her in the back yard. He then told me about how much fun he is having hunting with Dad & Heath and about his new hiking boots that Dad got him before they left. We chatted for a little while and he said he loved me and gave the phone back to Will.
I then text Will and told him the sad news. Later this evening Will called me and said he had told Calvin and he took it quite well. Calvin got on the phone with me and asked me if we had buried her yet and I said no she was still in her jar and he said GOOD. Please leave her there until I get home tomorrow night and I'll say goodbye and bury her in the back yard. He then told me about how much fun he is having hunting with Dad & Heath and about his new hiking boots that Dad got him before they left. We chatted for a little while and he said he loved me and gave the phone back to Will. Will told me what a stud Calvin was because he walked several miles today practically all uphill and never once complained or cried or asked to stop. Calvin has literally walked 8 miles in one day during a hunting trip and I just thought I would record this now before I forget.
We will strangely miss Manti and watching her prey & catch crickets in that pickle jar. Who knows if the egg sacks are full of babies or if they are blanks but we will see when it warms up!
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