praying mantis, gift from my cat

OMG, what a nice gift our cat Panthy brought in today, HAHA!

Without a scratch and only a mild shock the slightly dazed critter gladly took a ride on my arm out of the moment of horror our cat must have given it, after he transported this praying mantis inside and announced loudly and proudly his awesome catch. It's been about 12cm long and posed like a pro infront of my lens. If only I was a pro to really take advantage of this unique opportunity, but I did get a good amount of shots. Here are two from our patio table, where I temporarily put her down for a brief session.

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One more with the lighter...

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cat must have had a very gentle hold for it to survive; not bad shots although the backgrounds are not ideal.

Very true...uhm...both of it, haha! Yeah, he's amazing in that regard! He brought a moth once, which flew away unharmed as well as a little snake, which I thought was just as amazing...not a scratch. He played with a lizard outside, even chasing it around with his paws... not a hair was bent...uhm...eh...not a scale was dented!
So, yeah, I'm quite proud of Panthy! He could easily destroy them completely but simply chooses not to.

I was too excited to even have such a critter infront of me to think of finding nicer settings for a shoot. Here's one more on my sleeve, although I lost the focus a bit...

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Nice shots.

Lovely series - beats mice that my cat likes to bring in
Brian v.

Haha, yeah...it's tough to catch a mouse alive, I reckon...
Thanks Cyclop and LordV!

Here's another one from this morning...

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Those are really nice. The mantis posed great. You don't even have to leave home with your cat doing all the foot work for ya. LOL

Good shots.
I never thought of training a catt to catch subjects
Looks like it's ready to lay an ootheca in that last pic.

Good shots. The first one just makes me laugh, like "wow, do you know what just happened to me." The last picture is very good, I really like the composition.

My cat only brings me live (somewhat) chipmunks, mice and birds. Always fun trying to catch the latest critter running loose in the house. I swear the cat sits on the couch and laughs.

HAHAHAHAHA! TOTALLY! Thanks Dan, that's even more hillarious about the first and your cat on the couch!
I'm sure it's a bit harder to get a good shot of her catch, hahaha... or a tasteful one!
I mentioned that he brought a moth and a snake, both unharmed, right? Oh, I might have forgotten to mention the snake, omg... the cutest little thing, a young local grass snake! My wife was bouncing around in horror, hahaha. But it was the cutest thing, really. Both my wife and the snake. After I caught it, I carried it in my hand and kept it warm to relax a little. It liked it so much there, that it didn't really want to leave and I had to find the perfect place and convince it that it's safe. Unfortunately I was too fascinated with the little guy itself and liked it too much to fetch my camera. Next time I just keep it... I'm sure Panthy will accept him (or her) as a new friend.

Thanks, Dave! I never knew I trained him... must've been my years of explaining not to use his claws with my hands... ...or appearantly only use his claws with MY hands! :P

Thanks, Robert! I've come to think exactly that right after the mantis! I'm just not sure if I could call that "wild life" photography, hahahaha!

I'm really thrilled about all your reactions and so happy for the mantis, somehow! Thanks again!

Amazing shots

Thanks, Nymphalidae!
Here's one more... I was just looking through my raws and tried out adobe's new photoshop RAW beta. Didn't notice anything new, though...

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Some amazing snaps. Are you using a tripod? Or are these shot hand-held?

LOL I love how expressive it's eyes are! LOL It looks so mischievous!