The Gentleman Caller

I was embarrassingly excited when I went out for a final check of the garden last night and noticed a male mantis on the side of the house near Miss Thing.  I checked several more times before going to bed and he eventually got close enough to move "into position".  First thing this morning, I dashed out to assess and this is what I found.  Miss Thing appears to be very relaxed, the the GC still has his head attached and is firmly (perhaps gently?) clasping her around the abdomen.  They remained this way for hours, moving position a bit along the way.  And when I went out this afternoon to check, he was gone - and no evidence of a corpse below the boudoir so I assume he escaped in one piece.  If you're unaware, it's not uncommon for female mantids to decapitate (and eat) the male during or after copulation although entomologists believe this is more often the case when the female hasn't gotten enough to eat.  Grisly but also strangely fascinating.  Miss Thing is currently lazing on the milkweed smoking a cigarette.  (Okay, not really, obviously!). I will be watching closely now to see if she leaves an ootheca...at which point I will need to decide whether to destroy it, keep it, or move it.  

I met up with a friend this morning for a walk in a wetlands area.  She lost her mother earlier this year and now her father has metastatic cancer and, like me, she battles depression under the best of circumstances.  Anyway, I think it was "good medicine" for both of us to walk and talk and enjoy nature.  We plan to meet up again next week.  

I will probably take Jax for a walk later.  In the meantime, a little nap.  Pain level is moderate today which is making me a little tired I think.   There will definitely be a square of something dark later.

Happy Friday.

xo
Debbi