Mantises scaring the poop out of people! (videos)

Precarious · Sep 16, 2011

It always amuses me how mantids tend to jump onto cameras.

I also find it amusing how something 1/1000th our size that can't even hurt us can scare the living cr@p out of us. :lol:

Precarious · Sep 16, 2011

gripen · Sep 16, 2011

Closer, closer... SUPRISE!!!!!!

Skylineblinkfan · Sep 16, 2011

Hahaha great stuff. My mantids almost always jump on the camera if im trying to get a close up.

lancaster1313 · Sep 16, 2011

It is funny how that works.

A few years ago, when my husband found a small mantis that jumped on him when we were fishing, we were wary of it, and mistook its reaching and jumping behaviors for aggression. We passed it to eachother using a stick for it to climb on.

We wanted to take it home, but I was scared that we would get into trouble. I did take home the next one that I found, and I guess one thing led to another.

It was very amusing but I will admit that I was a little afraid because I didn't know what it could do to me. It was a Stagmomantis carolina and it was probably L3 or maybe L4 at the largest. :blush: :lol:

The only experience that I had with a mantis, prior to that, was when I was 4 or 5 and messed with what was probably a large Brunneria borealis. It grabbed me and drew blood.

Then my mom lectured me on how special praying mantids are and that it was illegal to mess with them.