Oh hello Mantises

On Sunday, the entire family was in a rush to get out and run some errands. I had walked outside first to make sure we had what we needed in the car when I glanced over at the praying mantis container and realized it was full of little mantises. Lots of them. I called Pooka and Brother to come out and see. Pooka was amazed over how many there were. 

Surprise

They were so tiny but yet even Brother found them amazing. We didn't have a ton of time at that moment to look at them. Again, timing this year is not our friend. However, since I still hadn't found the bottom to the container, I didn't want a garage to be full of mantises. We already had one escapee we had to usher out on a frisbee. The plan was for them to go in the garden.

Look at all the new friends

Daddy had the brilliant idea to put the container in a shady spot of the garlic bed until we could empty it. That night we went through and shook some of  the mantises out into all the garden beds, and then the ones we couldn't get out, we left with the zippered part open and down in the garden beds in back and let them either leave on their own or die.

They are so tiny

I will say its nice knowing we put a ton of mantises in the garden. I made sure each bed had a good shaking of them and hopefully this will help keep down the pest issues in the garden. Pooka in true Pooka fashion tried naming them all, but in the end just saying goodbye and do a good job to each bed as we shook out her good bugs.

Now get to work