I've found them occasionally outdoors, but have not had the pleasure of finding one in my greenhouse. I'm hoping that changes! I also found a HUGE walking stick a few years ago when I was pruning some shrubbery and one of the "limbs" moved. LOL. Scared me at first until I realized what it was.

You cannot get the egg cases now since there are no Praying Mantids in them. Order in late winter for early spring delvery. While the Mantids pretty much wait for insects to come into reach they are very mobile in my yard and I see them walking all over and now the are quite big and fat. Just what they eat I have no idea, but my toads are also getting big and fat.

I haven't seen any yet in the Akron area, but I did see a Red Admiral butterfly! The hummers will probably be back in the next week or two. I have a mantis eggcase too. I think they hatch sometime in May, when the nights aren't as cold. Unless you do what I did once as a kid; I left one in the living room and the eggs hatched in March!! My parents were not very pleased! GardeningFireman

Greenwood: I actually rescued a mama mantis who was trying to cross the street, once. She gave me the gift of her last egg pod shortly before dying. While she was alive and happy (and very friendly, always wanting to ride my shoulder or my head, the frame of my glasses if she could talk me into it..) she went on several field trips to my son's school. He's autistic and physically/mentally retarded. The mantis would spend an hour in his classroom while the more mobile/aware kids would feed her little bits of raw meat off the tip of a bamboo skewer. She was very happy with walking all over my hand, my aunt's hand, and my son's arm. So long as you can trust the child not to freak out, yeah.. I think mantids are very kind to humans. What scares them are the sort of things you'd expect. Shrieking, flailing people that they're riding on.. being picked up incorrectly, etc. Oh, and to pick one up properly, hold your hand or a stick out in front of it and gently ease it on. Finger and thumb grasping for the thorax is a baaaaad idea. I found out the hard way when I forgot myself with a truly wild specimen.. they CAN reach to "bite" if gripped there. It does hurt, but doesn't bleed. Similar to a thorn's nick or a papercut, depending on where they get you, and it's entirely self-defensive. So long as they're handled properly, they don't see people as a threat. I've heard there are a great many varieties sold as novelty pets, even! :)