# The Great Escape



## dgerndt (Jan 25, 2011)

I awoke on the morning on January 21st, 2011 to see a beautiful sight: rays of sun leaking through my blinds and shining onto my gorgeous sub-adult male Chinese mantis, Kyle. He was happily basking in the warm sunshine in his new home-made screen enclosure, and I felt proud. I raised him from a newly hatched nymph and now he was just a short two weeks and one molt away from being the full-fledged adult mantis he was born to be. But fate had different plans for Kyle.

It was later that day when I went to my room that I found the horror that awaited me. My bedroom door was ajar, and I knew something was wrong. As I pushed the door the rest of the way open, I saw one of my cat's INSIDE of Kyle's new enclosure. Then I saw another cat playing with the tattered and beaten cricket that was supposed to be Kyle's next meal. Lastly, another cat was on my bed, looking confused as to why I had screamed. I ran quickly to Kyle's aid, grabbing cats and yelling in outrage; but it was too late. Kyle was nowhere to be seen. I searched my room, crawling on my hand and knees, even wiggling around on my stomach looking under tables and chairs, trying to find him. But, alas, Kyle was gone.

Now all I can do is keep scanning my room, hoping to find him. I even put out a bucket with crickets in it to try and lure him out, but with no success. I just hope with all my heart that he didn't become a tasty snack for one of my cats.


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## [email protected] (Jan 25, 2011)

Oh know! I know that feeling, I have cats too! I hope you find him soon. Look up, he is probably trying to go up and away from the cats.


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## Ntsees (Jan 25, 2011)

For it's probable chance of survival, my only guess is that the mantid would have to have escaped it's enclosure and got to someplace high before your cats came in. If that wasn't the case, then chances are your cat broke and got the mantid. Then again, if your cat wasn't interested in the mantid when it went in, then the mantid could still be around in your room.


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## PhilinYuma (Jan 25, 2011)

Ouch, Deby, it doesn't sound good, does it? I don't know any more than you whether or not Kyle bit the bullet, but if you have a life insurance policy on him, you might want to start looking for a claim form.

I do recommend against the name "Kyle", though. According to the actuarial tables, people/critters with this name hav a better chance of being eaten than most. I had a friend named Kyle in Chicago, who got lost in Lincoln Park one foggy night in 1993 and was nibbled to death by ducks in the lagoon.

Also, of course, try, if you can, to keep cats and ducks out of your bedroom. I hope that this helps.


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## hibiscusmile (Jan 25, 2011)

This place is plum full of nuts, reminds me of a saying " I see the squirrels have not gathered all the nuts up yet" :lol: 

I don't have cats, but my sister does, she says hers love bugs, specially crickets, so we can only hope they missed Kyle , but I concure, does not sound good.


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## Domanating (Jan 25, 2011)

Last year i had a beautiful couple of mantids. I was waiting for their last molt so i could mate them. one day i saw the males cage ruined and my mantid was nowhere to be seen but my cat was there... I almost strangled him... weeks later i found the females cage also destroyed, but this time my female was on the ground almost dead. I didn't find any wounds or anything but she was probably munched... I was so damn angry... Well i didn't do anything to the cat..It's just an animal.


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## Insect-lover (Jan 25, 2011)

This is why i lock my room with keys.

Damn cats are too smart.

Im so sorry to hear that, once you give your heart to caring for these insects, they become part of family, they are so expressive its so sad to see them die.

Hope you get to find him.


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## dgerndt (Jan 25, 2011)

Thanks everyone for your support. I always close my door to keep my cats out, but my boyfriend didn't close it all the way that morning. That's how the cats got in and knocked his cage over. ):

@Phil: Sorry to hear about the killer ducks eating your friend. Maybe the trail of breadcrumbs wasn't such a good idea. It obviously didn't keep him from getting lost, and then it attracted the ducks!


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## warpdrive (Jan 25, 2011)

Deby, I feel you pain.

yesterday was a sad day for me. my favorite ghost named Dorra the explorer (yes I named a bug, silly me) just molted to L6. she was so awesome looking. always the first to molt. always so playful and kind to the smaller ghosts in "her" terrarium. always banging onthe frount door for me to take her out and let her crawl all over me. she was the wonderful green ghost in all of my photos. *sniffle*

so I take her out knowing that she don't want to eat the silly little houseflys, and I ran out of Blue Bottles. I tryed to get her to eat a cricket but she may have just wanted to play. so I tried anyway to feed her by giving her just a leg from a big cricket. she tasted it and started to feed.

yet she was on my hand ansdI had to feed the rest of my clain, so I put her down and she would stop eating and just drop the leg. looking at me like why did I put her down? so I picked her up again and she would take the drumstick once more and eat, but after I took a few pics, I had to feed the rest of my zoo.

so I placed her back in the terrarium as long as she wasn't going to eat other then on my finger. I added a cup of tiny crickets to the terrarium so that I can not only feed the ghosts but shoot a video later of them going in and eatting them while backing out and letting the next mantid get her turn.

well, after feeding my zoo I was tired from feeling "under the weather". all the snow wasn't helping as well. so I took a nap. I woke up and before even putting on my glasses I noticed a "green" circle in the cricket cup. to my horror the crickets pulled Dorra inside while she must have tryed to catch one and they ganged up on her and ate her!!!!!  

putting on my glasses I was praying it wasn't her and it was another green female I had in that terrarium. but no, it was my sweet Dorra. :no: 

all I have left are my memorys of her adventures while trying to explore my house and giving me heart attacks when I can't find her. she even snuck out of her cage weeks ago because I didn't feel her on my hand when I went inside to fix something and I realised an hour later she was still on my hand. :sweatdrop: 

at least I didn't throw away her molt and saved it. *sniffle*

Dorra eating on my finger yesterday.












I'm so sorry to hear of your story Deby. it hasn't been my week as well.

Harry


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## hibiscusmile (Jan 25, 2011)

Oh my WORD! What a heart wrenching story Harry! You all must feel terrrible, kinda glad I cannot get to know many of mine, I would be on antidepressiants and alcohol! :blink:


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## warpdrive (Jan 25, 2011)

hibiscusmile said:


> Oh my WORD! What a heart wrenching story Harry! You all must feel terrrible, kinda glad I cannot get to know many of mine, I would be on antidepressiants and alcohol! :blink:


I still feel sick about it. who knew you can get attached to a silly bug.  

I'm hand feeding a ton of ghosts, one by one right now...no way I'm repeating that mistake again.

Harry


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## cuervo (Jan 25, 2011)

That is terrible hope you find him.


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## dgerndt (Jan 26, 2011)

I'm sorry to hear that, Harry.  I prefer to hand-feed my mantids for just that reason.


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## PragmaticHominid (Jan 26, 2011)

I understand how bad you guys feel, Deby and Harry.

A few minutes ago I opened one of my nymph cups to add some fruit flies, because I've got my little L1 ghosties in there two to a cup, so I wanted to make sure they had plenty of food in there. I didn't look before I opened the lid (I've got the flu and my brain is stupid right now, but I should have looked) and I ended up squashing one of the little guys. I didn't even notice that I'd done it until I saw him smeared on the side of my finger.

I feel so freaking horrible. I don't think I've cried like this in years. I can't imagine what it must feel like to lose one that you were attached to.


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## hibiscusmile (Jan 27, 2011)

I feel so freaking horrible. I don't think I've cried like this in years. I can't imagine what it must feel like to lose one that you were attached to.


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## lancaster1313 (Jan 27, 2011)

PragmaticHominid said:


> I understand how bad you guys feel, Deby and Harry.
> 
> A few minutes ago I opened one of my nymph cups to add some fruit flies, because I've got my little L1 ghosties in there two to a cup, so I wanted to make sure they had plenty of food in there. I didn't look before I opened the lid (I've got the flu and my brain is stupid right now, but I should have looked) and I ended up squashing one of the little guys. I didn't even notice that I'd done it until I saw him smeared on the side of my finger.
> 
> I feel so freaking horrible. I don't think I've cried like this in years. I can't imagine what it must feel like to lose one that you were attached to.


I am always afraid that I will injure one of mine when I am closing the containers.  So far, I have only closed the lids on the tips of a couple of their legs,(no permanent injuries yet, I always notice when one is stuck and release them). They always like to be near the rim of the cups, &lt;_&lt; I try to chase them down away from the rim, but sometimes they will stand their ground and it takes forever to get the lids on safely.


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## geckoboy3 (Jan 27, 2011)

Deby, I feel for you. I hope you find Kyle...



hibiscusmile said:


> This place is plum full of nuts, reminds me of a saying " I see the squirrels have not gathered all the nuts up yet" :lol:
> 
> (How do you make a squirrel sad? You hake away his nuts)


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## dgerndt (Jan 27, 2011)

Thanks everyone for your kind words. There's still no sign of Kyle; I've pretty much given up on finding him.  It's been almost a week.

I accidentially squished a 1st instar mio when I was closing the lid of their deli cup a few weeks ago.  They're so tiny... almost the same size of melanogaster fruit flies. He/she ran up to the edge too fast and I didn't see until it was too late. I felt so bad.

The only good news I have is that my Gambian ooth finally hatched. So now I have 12 spunky little nymphs to help replace the spot where Kyle was. I still miss him, though. He had so much personality.


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## Findarato (Jan 31, 2011)

Deby said:


> Thanks everyone for your kind words. There's still no sign of Kyle; I've pretty much given up on finding him.  It's been almost a week.


Did you find him in the meantime?


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## dgerndt (Jan 31, 2011)

No, still no luck. I'm almost certain he was eaten by my cats, or he died somewhere in my room.


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## Findarato (Jan 31, 2011)

Don't give up hope if he could escape the cats. if he died in your room you would have found his body (or still might). If the cats ate him, it hopefully was a quick death for him at least. Cats play with their prey, but an insect would not survive long in their claws.

I just had a (small) shock myself when I tried to take one of my L6 female Hierodulas out to feed her. She jumped around my hand and ran about the room on the floor, until I could take her up again. I have no cat, but a dog ho sniffed at her once. She is safe now, and eating her cricket beside me.


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## geckoboy3 (Jan 31, 2011)

Findarato said:


> Don't give up hope if he could escape the cats. if he died in your room you would have found his body (or still might). If the cats ate him, it hopefully was a quick death for him at least. Cats play with their prey, but an insect would not survive long in their claws.
> 
> I just had a (small) shock myself when I tried to take one of my L6 female Hierodulas out to feed her. She jumped around my hand and ran about the room on the floor, until I could take her up again. I have no cat, but a dog ho sniffed at her once. She is safe now, and eating her cricket beside me.


+1


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## dgerndt (Feb 1, 2011)

Findarato, I'm glad to hear that your story turned out better than mine.


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## geckoboy3 (Feb 1, 2011)

Deby said:


> Findarato, I'm glad to hear that your story turned out better than mine.


Don't say "turned out"...... He could live for a long time if you dump feeder insects in your room :tt2: 

Even though that's not gonna happen, here's a picture of him :angel:


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## dgerndt (Feb 2, 2011)

Haha, I'm not going to have free range crickets in my room. The carpenter ants are bad enough. :lol:


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## warpdrive (Feb 2, 2011)

Deby said:


> Haha, I'm not going to have free range crickets in my room. The carpenter ants are bad enough. :lol:


how about letting loose some BB flys or moths?  

Harry


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## warpdrive (Feb 2, 2011)

PragmaticHominid said:


> I understand how bad you guys feel, Deby and Harry.
> 
> A few minutes ago I opened one of my nymph cups to add some fruit flies, because I've got my little L1 ghosties in there two to a cup, so I wanted to make sure they had plenty of food in there. I didn't look before I opened the lid (I've got the flu and my brain is stupid right now, but I should have looked) and I ended up squashing one of the little guys. I didn't even notice that I'd done it until I saw him smeared on the side of my finger.
> 
> I feel so freaking horrible. I don't think I've cried like this in years. I can't imagine what it must feel like to lose one that you were attached to.


oh, wow. so sorry I missed this and sorry that this happend to you.

this is why I only use deli cups that have foam plugs on them so I don't have to open the lid to feed or mist. Rebecca sells great deli cups that have lids like this and are high quality for a reasonable price.

you can also make your own with a simple sponge that you use to clean your pots and pans. just cut a small hole big enough to use a funnel to feed and then cut the sponge slightly larger then the hole. this can be done to the side of the deli cup or the lid itself.

Harry


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## geckoboy3 (Feb 2, 2011)

warpdrive said:


> how about letting loose some BB flys or moths?
> 
> Harry


 :lol:


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## dgerndt (Feb 2, 2011)

warpdrive said:


> how about letting loose some BB flys or moths?
> 
> Harry


Oh, yeah, flies are MUCH better than crickets to have roaming my bedroom! (sarcasm) :lol:


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## geckoboy3 (Feb 2, 2011)

Deby said:


> Oh, yeah, flies are MUCH better than crickets to have roaming my bedroom! (sarcasm) :lol:


+1 :lol: :lol:


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