Bought today

Today, after a long discussion about garden pest control with my friend Bill from Sheridan Nurseries, I found myself bringing home a Praying Mantis egg case.

Am I nuts??!!

I am not a bug person. I am a bug SPRAY person. Forget the "Off", bring on the "F-Off", I always say.

So why on earth have I brought home a tiny brown pod that I have been assured will eventually hatch up to 400 of these creepy crawly green things??!

Well, because Bill from Sheridan Nurseries says that hatching them will be an excellent scientific experience for my children to witness.

I'm all over that.

But, most importantly, Bill assured me that Praying Mantes are the ultimate garden predator. These little feckers annihilate aphids, beetles, flies, mosquitoes, moths, caterpillars, and just about any other pesky bug they can catch. They've got Serious Attitude, and I have to admit that I respect that in an insect.

Apparently, The Hatching will occur by June, and once I've got a couple of hundred creepy little critters in the bug case I blew twelve bucks on at Toys'r'Us, I can release them into my garden. They are apparently very territorial, and will stick around (forgive the pun) long enough to reproduce, and protect my precious plants from all oncoming enemies (I'm assuming, so long as said enemies are not larger than the Praying Mantis itself).

Hey, if they're game, I'm game.

Now I'll just have to work on my involuntary reaction to SWAT all things small and crawly that come at me whilst in the great outdoors...

New Mantra:

Buuuuugggggsssss are beauuuuuuutiful... Buuuuggggssss are beauuuuuuutiful... Buuuggg....

AAAAAAACCCCCKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!

You think it'll work??!!