My new garden helpers just hatched

[hillbillygal]

My grandfather trimmed some bushes around his house and in the debris we found a mantis' "sack". I brought it inside and placed it in a jar so it wouldn't just be devoured by the birds and other critters. I just went into the kitchen and checked it while there and found a jarful of the little beauties. I'm waiting for dh to go out with me to release them into the garden area. I know he'd like to see them now that they are all hatched out. This has been a really fun experiment and free to boot!

[gwest]

hillbillygal,
Hope they raise you a bunch more they are good bug eaters, but then again so are bats You don't say from where in TN you are located, I grew up in Middle TN, "Manchester" now I'm down in Georgia,still miss those East TN hills and mountains.
Good luck with your praying mantis.

[Kipper]

That is COOL !
We're blessed with bats. Sooooo blessed that about 5 years ago we shoveled out the 'attic' of our 179 yr old house and got TWENTY SEVEN GARBAGE BAGS OF BAT CRAP ! I love that they eat the bugs and they don't freak me out when they fly around at night, but they have since been evicted! We sealed up the attic space and blew new insulation in. Our house is much more comfy and doesn't smell funky any more in the summer.

[Tricky Grama]

Ooooooo, lucky you!
(for the mantises, I mean-not the batcrap. )
Patty

[Callieslamb]

My son is getting his Doctorate in insects.....he found several praying mantis egg sacks and hatched them last year. Even after all the work he does with insects, he found it fascinating. Now to get him to bring me some of them!!!

[ceresone]

This thread does bring back memories--and makes me laugh-now.
When my son was about 8, he had a terraium(?). without my knowing it, he trapped a couple praying mantis, and put them inside. The top wasnt completely covered. One night, he woke me up screaming there were bugs in his bed!!
You guessed it--they had hatched! we caught all we could, and took to the garden, but I had to spray his room before he would sleep there again.

[Ladyhen]

What a fun adventure!

[gwest]

Kipper
I hope you put them up a bat house outside to move into after the eviction,also did you know that bat droppings,crap,"guanno" to be politically correct is some of the best fertilizer you can get. before the invention of chemical fertilizers farmers in America imported it by the tons for their gardens unless you were lucky enough to own cattle,chickens etc to produce your own garden goodies Also bats eat a lot of bugs that invade your garden,not just mosquitoes.

[Kipper]

Originally Posted by gwest

Kipper
I hope you put them up a bat house outside to move into after the eviction,also did you know that bat droppings,crap,"guanno" to be politically correct is some of the best fertilizer you can get. before the invention of chemical fertilizers farmers in America imported it by the tons for their gardens unless you were lucky enough to own cattle,chickens etc to produce your own garden goodies Also bats eat a lot of bugs that invade your garden,not just mosquitoes.

We have 4 outbuildings they are welcome to sleep in just not in my house. We threw all the bat crap/guanno into the ravine because it was mixed with the old blown in insulation. (we unbagged as we tossed) I understand that the insulation is made of recycled material but it is also treated and we didn't want to take any chances.

[hillbillygal]

We used to have a good bat population but the hill that had the caves they lived in was blasted to make way for road expansion. We still have a few but no where near what they used to be. I would have freaked out if I woke up to a bedfull of mantis'!