When I saw the ad, I couldn’t resist going to a bug fair. How many times do you get to handle creepy-crawlies? My daughter, Shannon, was game and so were her two children. So off we went to the local college campus to get up close and person with insects. Unfortunately, most turned out to be in specimen jars or photographs, but we did meet an Australia praying mantid. I couldn’t wait to get my hand on, or rather under, it. It was BIG, too; the full length of my hand, and beautiful in a bizarre alien sort of way. I’m sure Aussie Mantid wondered about me, too. What is that big bug-eyed thing staring at me? It’s baring it's teeth! It’s cackling! Is it going to eat me? Aussie Mantid rocks and sways harder, trying to convince me he’s a stick with a few leaves blowing in the wind and nothing edible. He need not have worried. I wasn’t that hungry!
Shannon by-passes the hissing cockroach....