From SVBC member Nancy Warshawer.

A couple weeks ago I was checking in on my epiphyte-filled trees (as one does), and I was just about to brush aside some thready dead fern leaves when they began to vibrate. There was no breeze and nothing else was moving, so it got my attention. It took a second to figure out I was looking at a…praying mantis.

I suppose her defense mechanism of vibrating didn’t evolve to defend against humans! Ironically, it may have saved her from an accidental death at my hands. I have been checking in on her regularly and she’s remained within 6 inches of where I found her. It’s always fun (for me, anyway) to follow some individual creature going about its life.