Walt

In mid-September, Walt was spotted at Disneyland by Auntie Julie and through the miracle of technology, a photo and directions to her location were forwarded to me since I also happened to be at Disneyland that day! I found Walt deep in Toontown and popped her in an empty cup. She survived the trek home and began sharing Mint Plant Palace with Nigel, alternating days in the critter keeper.



Walt never mated or laid eggs that we know of, I think that may have happened at Disneyland. A week ago, she went into full defense mode, tracking us carefully even as we just walked by and striking every chance she got.


While her beautiful stance was appreciated, she never fully let her guard down until one day she just sort of stopped moving altogether, with her wings still spread out. I think she may have been stung by a bee, or she's just getting old. I moved her to the critter keeper and waited for her to die so I could pin and frame her. (think of it as insect taxidermy) But Walt didn't die, and she began moving a little better day by day so I put her back out on the plant. She's way too slow to catch any prey on her own so Saturday night I caught a big, fat moth and fed it to Walt with a pair of medical tweezers. Yep, I hand-fed an insect. It was pretty gross but of course I got pictures! They're pretty blurry but YOU try feeding a praying mantis with one hand and taking photos with the other ;)

Yikes, when I look at it now, you can really see the little face of that moth as it's being eaten, can't you?