I have been having a hard time catching flies around my area. I suspect the city sprayed something and that it affected my fly population which has been massive due to some strange berry dropping trees on my property. As such, today, I was desperate. Several small stink bug looking food items later, which mantids can't smell apparently, I found this lone grasshopper. I added him to a container but he jumped around too much. I put him in a bag and stunned him in the freezer. While taking him out with some 15 inch tweezers, his legs fell off. I really didn't mean to. They just come off easier after a quick freeze I guess. Anyway, again, being danger low on food items in my backyard (time to buy spikes for the first time) I'm not one to waste pieces of food either. If I catch a massive horsefly, which happens at least weekly on my porch, Ill divide it up amongst several mantids. After this mantis did not want the stunned hopper, I gave him a drumstick. It was then my wife came around the corner and looked at me as if I had stepped off a spaceship. She accused me of being evil for forcing the grasshopper to watch the mantis eat his own leg. I had not noticed but the hopper had come to and did appear to be watching the mantid eat his leg. (don't know if he knew it was his) 
She told me to let it go after traumatizing it so much. (I fed it to another mantis when she went away) And yea, the leg is kicking in the mantids grasp.
She told me to let it go after traumatizing it so much. (I fed it to another mantis when she went away) And yea, the leg is kicking in the mantids grasp.
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