I had a prolonged encounter with a Praying Mantis yesterday. In hindsight it reminds me of a conversation I had in the alleyway at work with someone. He told me about how a grasshopper at the beach, in Michigan I think, had once signaled to him to get people off the beach. The grasshopper had selected him because he was the alpha male. He and his friends started leaving the beach at once, and then I think the rest of the people there also left. Soon after there was a tornado, or windstorm, or something. So, the signaling was successful.
Yesterday afternoon, when I drove from the parking lot by the building I work in to the gym (a tenth of a mile or 2) I noticed, when I was half way or so to the gym, that there was a praying mantis in the center of the windshield on the passenger side. He was huge. Throughout the time he was on the windshield I thought he (could be a she, I guess) was a grasshopper. Now I realize he was not a grasshopper. I parked by the gym and was surprised that he wasn't blown off by the wind from the car moving. I was concerned that he had lost his habitat by the other building, but I just left him there anyway. I went to the gym, and when I got back to the car I had forgotten about him and started my trip home.
Around the time I was approaching the exit to the place that I work, about a 3 minute drive, to my astonishment, I noticed that he was still there. I was very surprised that not only didn't he get off the car, but he was able to hold on-at times I must've been going 30 mph or so. At that point I just kept on driving and turned onto the parkway where speeds get up to around 60 mph. I watched him as I accelerated and he oriented himself into the wind. He would sometimes bring his right arm up, but he looked surprisingly stable. I thought that, since I had to get gas, I would go to the closest gas station on the way home and let him off there. First I had to get onto the expressway, and then get off a couple miles later. The gas station was not far from there.
As I exited the parkway to get on the expressway I had to slow down. I noticed, as maybe I had noticed before, that he seemed to be having more trouble as I slowed down. He fidgeted all over the place. I got down to maybe 40 mph, and then got on the expressway and got up to about 55-60 mph. I tried to go slower than usual, and stayed in the right lane. He was still moving his right arm around quite a bit, but, to my surprise, he was doing ok.
Then I exited the expressway, and slowed down as I got on the service road and started to prepare to make a right turn. I probably slowed down sooner than I normally would have, out of concern for him. But he really started to struggle, and before I knew it he went flying off. I wasn't happy about that, but there was little I could do about it at that point. At least I had tried, though it seemed that speeds around 40 were more problematic than 60, something I hadn't imagined. I guess that the winds right on the windshield are worse at 40 mph than at 60 mph due to some aerodynamic phenomenon.
I called my mother on the way home, as I usually do, and told her about it, expressing my concern for it. She said, I'm sure it's OK. Well, I'm not.
In the alleyway today I saw a hummingbird, which is very unusual for me, and the crickets are getting louder, as they do this time of year.
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