Life Affirming Stuff Happens Here, Too...

It's not all death and murder in our yard... or should I say in my room?  A pair of dragon flies got so distracted that they flew into my room while copulating then panicked when they were done doing what they were there to do as they struggled to find a way out.  I removed the screen and they made a hasty escape.

From Wikipedia --

Female dragonflies lay eggs in or near water, often on floating or emergent plants. When laying eggs, some species will submerge themselves completely in order to lay their eggs on a good surface. The eggs then hatch into nymphs. While in the nymph stage they eat mosquito larva. Most of a dragonfly's life is spent in the nymph form, beneath the water's surface, using extendable jaws to catch other invertebrates or even vertebrates such as tadpoles and fish.^[1][2][3][4] They breathe through gills in theirrectum, and can rapidly propel themselves by suddenly expelling water through the anus.^[5] Some nymphs even hunt on land,^[6] an aptitude which could easily have been more common in ancient times when terrestrial predators were clumsier.

The larval stage of large dragonflies may last as long as five years. In smaller species, this stage may last between two months and three years. When the larva is ready to metamorphose into an adult, it climbs up a reed or other emergent plant. Exposure to air causes the larva to begin breathing. The skin splits at a weak spot behind the head and the adult dragonfly crawls out of its old larval skin, pumps up its wings, and flies off to feed on midges and flies. In flight the adult dragonfly can propel itself in six directions; upward, downward, forward, back, and side to side.^[7] The adult stage of larger species of dragonfly can last as long as five or six months.

...And Out The Front Door

So Monkey Man was at it again.  He's been agitated for a few days and yesterday he was clearly very unhappy.  Oddly enough, he seemed very content to sleep inside last night when over the last few weeks he doesn't come in until after 2am.  I think it's safe to say he's had his eye on this monster for a while. Perhaps now he'll rest on his laurels for a while and enjoy his status as a big game hunter.

Out My Back Door

On my way out for a swim, I found a tarantula blocking my path.  It was HUGE.  Okay, it probably was small in terms of a tarantula, but it was huge in terms of a spider.  My roommate has more courage and a better pedicure than I do, so she put her foot near it to give some scale. She tried making friends with it but not me.  She said I get points for not screaming like a girl.  I did holler for her to come outside but I was careful not to sound like I'd been hacked to pieces with a machete.  No point in giving anyone a heart attack over a... spider.

Merry Christmas Monkey Man!

Welcome!  MantisCam was founded to document the bizarre but true animal happenings in and around my home.  Some of it is cute.  Some of it is gruesome.  All of it is real.  To start things off, I give you a Christmas present.

Meet Monkey Man.  Suave.  Debonair.  Affectionate(ish).  Deadly.

Monkey loves his toys.  He loves them so much, he got his toy a present for Christmas.  He caught a rat and gave it to his stuffed animal as a gift.  He even put it by the Christmas tree, nose to nose with his fake rat.

To be honest, I was grateful he finished killing the critter before he brought it indoors.  That's not always the case.