Was this guy trying to fight me?
Hey mantis friends!
My wife and I moved into a new home last year to discover that it had a number of mantises! My wife was so happy as she loves mantises. She is bedbound and has been for a while now, so she never got to see the mantises up close last year (she could only see them through the pictures I took and showed her).
We ended up getting an enclosure so we could bring one in to her for a day. But,I didn't see any other mantises the rest of the year. The enclosure sat for a while gathering dust while I kept my eye out for another mantis the whole time. Well, yesterday I found this beautiful friend and was able to catch him (he did NOT make it easy) and get him in the enclosure!
My wife was so happy to get to hang out with this guy for a while! She couldn't see him long for her health, but she complimented him many times and thanked him for hanging out.
It came time to release him (at the same time I caught him the day before) and I ended up finding tons in our yard! It was very exciting. I let him out and he climbed up onto my hand and stared at me and started doing this kind of dance? I'd be lying if I said it didn't feel a bit intimidating. He then started crawling up very quickly towards my face (some of the photos I have attached) before I quickly moved him back down into the yard where I found him.
We ended up thanking him with a flower from our garden with the thought that it was both a lovely flower and also that it might attract some bugs for him. Hopefully I didn't interrupt him too bad, and he regards the experience as a positive one.
And thank you all for the tips on how to keep him comfy for the time he was staying with us! You all helped make my wife experience some joy and I am grateful for it.
So yeah, was the mantis trying to fight me?