My wife spied this adorable little fella on the garden hose.
I spied this eating machine on the machine shed.
Both are fun to have around.
Who are they?
I'll publish your submissions in a couple of days.
Tom
Green Tree Toad
Praying Mantis
Not sure of the first one - it looks like a leaf. Is it some sort of a toad? The second is a praying mantis.
The top picture looks kind of like a tree frog with a big leaf on its back. The bottom looks like an upside down praying mantis.
On the hose is a Gray Tree Frog.
Yeah, I know, it’s not gray, it changes color with the temperature, humidity or surroundings.
What is so “cool” about the tree frog is that when over wintering it replaces the water in its organs with glycerol and except for the vital organs most of the frog freezes.
Wisconsin is home to only one toad – the American Toad.
The insect is a praying mantis – a very useful garden helper.
I have an odd association with praying mantis'. One of the strangest experiences I had while working at a men's max prison was the day that one of the inmates on my caseload asked for a special "callout" to come see me in my office. He arrived carrying a work glove. Once inside my office, he withdrew a carefully folded napkin, which he opened to reveal a praying mantis. He'd discovered it near his cell and was afraid that someone might hurt it if they found it. He brought it to me because he felt that I would know what to do. I kept it in my desk all day. At the end of the day, I smuggled it out and set the little prison escapee free in my garden when I got home.
You know, I have no recollection of seeing a mantis as a kid.
Nowadays they're to be found every year around my garden.
What a fascinating insect.
