# Speaking with non-mantid people.



## Entomo-logic (Jan 27, 2011)

I was talking to a group of people about the animals I love so much today adn i was telling them of some ootheca that had hatched just that day. But I forgot to take into account that they were all Bunny Huggers (people that like fuzzy things with backbones and can't really appreciate why anyone would/could like a "Bug"). So I was saying that I had 5 Unicorns and 30 Ghosts Born (hatch) and they all looked at me like I was from Mars! I then saw they didn't understand and said sorry 5 Phyllovates chlorophaea and 30 Phyllocrania paradoxa. This didn't help and i was still getting blank stares. Why I thought they would get the Latin name I have no idea. Anyway I had to explain they were praying mantids and then they were like "Oh ok like the big green ones we see in the fall". I answered "yes like that but different" but the fact there was more than one species of praying mantis totaly fried their brains and they went on to talk about Gorillas.

Does this happen to anyone else or am I just surrounded by Idiots?


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## angelofdeathzz (Jan 27, 2011)

sounds like a kadundrum. share your females a good luck will come your way.


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## packer43064 (Jan 27, 2011)

When I tell people about the bugs I have, they don't understand either. Their lost as can be. It can go either way though. I have this friend that will tell me how he fixed his car by putting in some catalytic converter or some other gibberish. Their not idiots, their just dumb.  :lol:


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## nebrakacinese (Jan 27, 2011)

Happens all the time,especially when I tell them about last fall when my chinese female crawled around my chest when I would read.


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## cuervo (Jan 27, 2011)

You are not alone, people need to open their minds.There is more to life than the 4 walls they live in.


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## GreenOasis (Jan 27, 2011)

Lol...you should've seen the mixed reactions I would get at the last reptile show when I had a table set up with mantids for sale. The looks/comments ranged from sheer horror to "AWESOME!" I'm sure it will be even more fun at the next show, as there tends to be a lot of repeat customers there...same folks, different show day. I have learned that most of our friends &amp; relatives just don't give a hoot about anything that we own, so I don't even bother to talk about it. The one good friend that we have that comes over will occasionally say "cool" about this or that, but his eyes glaze over once it goes beyond the initial, "Look what we've got now!"...can't even get a latin name in before he's walking away, on to bigger &amp; better things. (And to think, he's studying to be a doctor!) :blink:


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## PeterF (Jan 27, 2011)

The dept that entomology is stuffed into here is Bio agricultural sciences and pest management. So I am surrounded by people in plant pathology (like my wife) or other plant growing fields (fields! ha!).

Most of the grad students have to deal with bugs, but aren't actually interested.


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## MantidLord (Jan 27, 2011)

Well for me, I'm known throughout my school as the "mantis man" or "mantis kid". A lot of people just don't understand.


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## lancaster1313 (Jan 27, 2011)

Many people that I have spoken with don't even know what a mantid is. I end up having to mime one with body language while I say, "You know, Praying Mantis". I just show them the phone pics most of the time. About 50% of people look at me like I have 2 heads, some people are grossed out, and some think it is awesome.You should see the looks I get when I tell them about my Discoid and Surinam roaches.  It is funny when they ask me what is in the pic, and I tell them it is a roach. :lol:


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## geckoboy3 (Jan 27, 2011)

likebugs said:


> Many people that I have spoken with don't even know what a mantid is. I end up having to mime one with body language while I say, "You know, Praying Mantis". I just show them the phone pics most of the time. About 50% of people look at me like I have 2 heads, some people are grossed out, and some think it is awesome.You should see the looks I get when I tell them about my Discoid and Surinam roaches.  It is funny when they ask me what is in the pic, and I tell them it is a roach. :lol:


If you're on the roach forum, you'll learn it gets even worse :lol: ....

I've had health inspectors (I think that's the term?) inspect my house to search for "dangerous species"  :blink:   

They're not idiots, they just have simple minds (and less IQ points  )


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## Rick (Jan 28, 2011)

Awhile back I brought some mantids to a biology class. A few students were really interested, but the majority wouldn't come near me when one was out of the container. Yet those people want to be biologists? I generally don't talk about my hobbies around most people since it just isn't worth trying to explain everything to them and most people couldn't care less about mantids and fossils.


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## hibiscusmile (Jan 28, 2011)

haha! your first reaction is right! Idiots! :lol: Same thing happens to me, I, like Rick don't talk about them anymore, unless someone asks, I don't share. Lots ask how the bugs are doing? Like they must live forever and wanted to know how they are in their old age :tt2:


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## yen_saw (Jan 28, 2011)

Is not all bad Tony, you did well! At least those people know now what 'ghost' and 'Texas unicorn' are.


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## MantidLord (Jan 28, 2011)

Rick, I think I'm going to start doing what you and Rebecca do. I mean, I tried my junior and senior year, but by then I already had my "reputation". What's funny is that I only spend like 10 minutes out of the day (unless I'm just watching them for whatever reason) to feed/check up on them. But a lot of people think it takes like hours and stuff.


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## dgerndt (Jan 28, 2011)

People just don't get it.  It was hard for my boyfriend at first when I got really into mantids. Eventually you calm down the mantis-mania and it doesn't matter that you can't talk to most people about them. There will always be that few that let you go on for a little while, though.


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## Koshmar (Jan 28, 2011)

The exact opposite usually happens with me. I love talking about this stuff with people I barely know, you should see their reactions! They're completely amazed at some of the stuff. When I was keeping cuttlefish and mantis shrimp I'd tell people all about them and show youtube videos and pics of them. Just Thursday I started talking to a girl in my organic chemistry class about weird fish and mantis shrimp, her eyes were so wide with surprise. It's even better with kids, I went to a coworker's daughter's birthday and talked with her 8 yr old son about waterbears, stomatopods, cephalopods, and all kinds of crazy creatures. He loved it! I could tell I sparked his imagination and desire to learn. It's momments like that which make all the odd looks worth it. When you know you've impacted someone and helped them appreciate the world we live in. If "ordinary" people knew what is out there they might want to start trying to save the things which are being destroyed. It's a step forward. Now that I'm part of this board and trying to get started, I've started showing people orchid mantis videos and people are blown away at their beauty! They can't believe it's a "bug". I wish people walked up to me and told me crazy things I didn't know about! Don't be discouraged if someone doesn't understand, eventually if you keep doing it you'll awaken curiousity in someone and they may get into the hobby. I would have never met one of my best friends if I didn't talk about the "weird" stuff I kept at home. It turned out she was exactly like me! In fact she's the one who reintroduced me to mantids. My entire relationship with her and my beginnings in this hobby came from me spreading the information I knew on unusual hobbies. I say keep it up, talk to people whenever you get the chance. You never know who you might meet!


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## lancaster1313 (Jan 28, 2011)

Kids seem to be more open minded about my insects. There are some kids in the neighborhood that stop by and ask to look at the bugs and my lizard. Most of the kids are kind of afraid of them, but there are a couple that want to let the bugs walk on their hands. Sometimes I get worried that they don't want to give them back. :lol: I have even tried to give away some of my _Stagmomantis carolinas _, but the parents don't want any part of it. &lt;_&lt;


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## Krissim Klaw (Jan 29, 2011)

Koshmar said:


> The exact opposite usually happens with me. I love talking about this stuff with people I barely know, you should see their reactions! They're completely amazed at some of the stuff.


Ditto, I love my mantises and tend to ramble on about them all the time. I have found the majority of reactions to be more positive/curious than anything else. Even the people that are scared are often curious enough to want to stare at them from a distance. Of course then again I was also the kid on my street who went house to house dragging a wagon full of grasshoppers and trying to sell grasshopper shows for a quarter. :lol:


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## kitkat39 (Jan 29, 2011)

lmao! Why you gave them the latin name after they were already giving you a confused look when mentioning their common name is beyond me... yeah not everyone will always be IN to what you're talking about. Some folks take some warming up to, others will never care, and yet others will be amazed as soon as you mention it. I do find that having either a live specimen or a picture/video of it generates a ton more interest rather than just talking about it because they simply have no idea what to picture in their heads and how awesome they could actually look. Sometimes you'll find folks who try to make fun of you for it.. the simple thing to do there is to make fun of them back


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## angelofdeathzz (Jan 29, 2011)

Yeah, I have alot of kids in my neighborhood that love to look at (and some of the braver ones hold) my mantis, they won't touch adults especially the big Chinese females, but they do gather around me when I hold them and give them some dialog about the breed, asking me many questions that I love answering. as far as adults I don't talk muck about them to people I don't know well, as I know they will think It strange since all they know is cats and dogs, I mean just the thought that I raise flies for them to eat will make them shiver lol. But some of my friends see the Idolos and they can't help but say "now that is cool !" but most adults that have seen them always want to see them again when they come over.

So I think they need to be broke in first to appreciate them. I can't really blame them as they are a unusual pet, and not for everyone.


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## Domanating (Jan 30, 2011)

Back at school they ask me how is it possible to like a bug. I don't really know how to answer, i just like them. They're interesting.

Almost all of my classmates flee when they see an ant or a moth... Things got funny when i brought one of my mantids to the school for a work. They were simply terrified :devil2: lol. Some didn't even know mantids existed. What i don't understand is why people are not afraid of for example a lion ,which could kill you with a single strike, and flee screaming like idiots when they see a creature that could be killed between 2 fingers...

What i don't regret doing and gave me a lot of fun was teaching some of my friends to tolerate the presence of insects and actually hold them. One of my last students was a girl. Although bugs didn't really scare her, she was reluctant in holding one of my mantids. However later that day she had my mantis religiosa crawling all over her body. Success!  

What amazes me is the fact that she is the only girl i know that was tolerant with insects. The others couldn't stay closer than five meters from a bug. That's why i got somewhat impressed when i saw so many women in this forum. No offense obviously  , it's just that i was alone in this life of pet praying mantis and i didn't know if there were people like me until i found this forum. From my short 17 year life experience, if only one girl in all others wasn't afraid of bugs, i could conclude that besides one exception: women don't like insects. Everything went upside down when i came here  . People are always learning something new.


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## geckoboy3 (Jan 30, 2011)

Domanating said:


> Back at school they ask me how is it possible to like a bug. I don't really know how to answer, i just like them. They're interesting.
> 
> Almost all of my classmates flee when they see an ant or a moth... Things got funny when i brought one of my mantids to the school for a work. They were simply terrified :devil2: lol. Some didn't even know mantids existed. What i don't understand is why people are not afraid of for example a lion ,which could kill you with a single strike, and flee screaming like idiots when they see a creature that could be killed between 2 fingers...
> 
> ...


 :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I laughed so hard when I read this


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## hibiscusmile (Jan 30, 2011)

me too! we bug people are funny, what a lot we have to offer!


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## dgerndt (Jan 30, 2011)

When I was in elementary school, we had pet beetles and I used to hold them and let them crawl on my face. People thought I was weird.


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## Domanating (Jan 31, 2011)

People expect other people to be normal. Define normal... If each one of us has different tastes we should be all weird to each other.

"you like bugs?! You're weird"

"you don't like candy?! You're weird"

"you don't like chicken?! You're weird"

"you don't like me?! You're weird"

And so on lol

P.S: I appreciate you liked my comment


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## geckoboy3 (Jan 31, 2011)

Domanating said:


> People expect other people to be normal. Define normal... If each one of us has different tastes we should be all weird to each other.
> 
> "you like bugs?! You're weird"
> 
> ...


lol :lol:


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## hibiscusmile (Jan 31, 2011)

haha, LOON! on the loose :lol:


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## geckoboy3 (Jan 31, 2011)

hibiscusmile said:


> haha, LOON! on the loose :lol:


Maybe we can put bait out:

Here, loonie loonie. I'll give you inverts..... Here loonie loonie, where are you you crazy? I have some inverts.... :lol:


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## lancaster1313 (Jan 31, 2011)

Everyone is weird, but in my opinion, the weirder the better. :lol:


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## hibiscusmile (Feb 1, 2011)

Bait! ha, smarter mantisnoid!


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## PhilinYuma (Feb 1, 2011)

So anyway, what do you guys think of MasterBurner (yep, right out of the MasterCarver stable, "somewhere in China!") and the claim that their pen tips generate 130W? Sounds to me like those old crazy claims for HiFi outputs before they had to state the amt of distortion at those volumes! I know that Mike at PJL has tested them out with volt and amp meters in line (you know, W = V x A) and even with heavy duty, 16G cable was only drawing between 50-60 watts. The guys at Colwood have made similar claims. I use the cutting tips where the material "sinks" a lot of heat, and I find that a clean 50W on a HD pen does the trick. So I tell folks just starting out to get a one port Optima which comes with one pen. Make that an 18M and get a 12M for another double sawbuck, and you're in bus......

OMG! Wrong forum! Wrong jargon! :stupid:


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## dgerndt (Feb 1, 2011)

Luckily, Phil, I understood a small amount of your jargon due to a physics class in my junior year of high school.


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## geckoboy3 (Feb 1, 2011)

Thanks for letting us know that :smarty: :tt2: :sweatdrop:


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## hibiscusmile (Feb 1, 2011)

Phil,. when I started to read that post without looking to see who it was, I almost pushed the report button for spam


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## lancaster1313 (Feb 2, 2011)

:lol:


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## dgerndt (Feb 2, 2011)

So I was talking to my therapist about my mantids, and she was so confused to know that there are different ones than the "huge green ones you see once in a blue moon". You should have seen the look on her face when I told her I have Gambian Spotted-Eye Flower Manttis nymphs! :lol: And then when I told her I counted and I have 22 mantids... classic!


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## geckoboy3 (Feb 2, 2011)

Deby said:


> So I was talking to my therapist about my mantids, and she was so confused to know that there are different ones than the "huge green ones you see once in a blue moon". You should have seen the look on her face when I told her I have Gambian Spotted-Eye Flower Manttis nymphs! :lol: And then when I told her I counted and I have 22 mantids... classic!


 :lol:


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