A Miracle

We found this character wandering around on the concrete patio and remarked on the awkwardness of its gait. It also looked very very fat. Some of you can guess what might follow. I put it on some greenery in the general direction of its path and we went off to do errands. About an hour later we returned and it was gone, so I searched a little bit and found her in the peace lilies that grow up between the sidewalk cracks. A perfect camouflage both in color and shape. See Extra for what happens next!  Mysteries of gait and girth are revealed--she is making an egg case (ootheca) and laying eggs right before our eyes! Sometimes I can't believe what I've seen because of Blip!  I watched her for a long time, such labor and care, shaping the foam that would harden around the eggs to protect them. Eventually I went in for dinner, and when I came back out she had vanished, leaving the ootheca to its fate in the garden. I've been trying to learn more about caring for the eggs: how can I protect them? are they a snack for something else out there? do I bring them inside or not? We've never seen a mantis in the yard before, and now there is a chance that a couple hundred babies will hatch. I feel that I was given a responsibility somehow, and I hope Im up to it.