Grasshopper

I was in the strawberry patch this evening, picking strawberries and flipping the unripe ones off the ground to try to save them from roly poly spawn of satan bugs. I had already emptied the beer bait bowls I left for the snails. It's getting really gross, attracting some other even less wanted bugs, so I'm leaving them dry for a while. Maybe I should just put them out for a couple days at a time.

As I was streaming my hands through the plants, I saw a tiny, maybe inch long, praying mantis. It was so unexpected and I don't think I've seen one, well, I don't remember seeing one specifically. But definitely not like this. I thought about going to get my camera but I knew I wouldn't be able to find him when I got back since he was so small and green and in the thick of the patch.

And then I saw a stunningly beautiful yellow grasshopper. I've never seen anything like it. It was at least 2 inches, maybe 3. So I went to get my phone. (Who knows where the camera is when you're in a hurry...) Of course, my phone hates to work in the almost dark so the photos are blurry.


I don't know what happened to this photo. There is an empty bowl in the background.

 

Yes, I know it's blurry.

Not that I think I have the quick reflexes to catch a grasshopper, but I was told later that I should have killed him, that they are terrible for the garden. Huh. I guess I could have tried to scare him out of the patch and let Cassi play with him. Or maybe she will go in and get him on her own. When we're not looking of course, since she's not allowed in there.