One day not long after that sexual cannibalism, I found a brown patch in the box. About the size of a bottle cap, it was stickly at first but soon hardened. An egg, obviously.
Some time later, it hatched. No fewer than fifty tiny praying mantes crept out from the shell and scuttled about. I was thrilled. Not only were those little creatures cute, they were in the most beautiful bright green colour I have ever seen. The scenes were very similar to what the pictures in this weblog show, only my ones were very, very bright green in colour.
What an experience it was for a city kid to be able to witness that cycle of mating, killing and hatching. But I didn't get to see the growing. After just a couple of days, it dawned on me, as those little creatures began to lose their sheen, that there was no way those young lives would be able to live in the box for long. Much as I was unwilling to, I took them to a park and released them.
Some time later, it hatched. No fewer than fifty tiny praying mantes crept out from the shell and scuttled about. I was thrilled. Not only were those little creatures cute, they were in the most beautiful bright green colour I have ever seen. The scenes were very similar to what the pictures in this weblog show, only my ones were very, very bright green in colour.
What an experience it was for a city kid to be able to witness that cycle of mating, killing and hatching. But I didn't get to see the growing. After just a couple of days, it dawned on me, as those little creatures began to lose their sheen, that there was no way those young lives would be able to live in the box for long. Much as I was unwilling to, I took them to a park and released them.
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