Letters from Katy: A sign

Some days I just look for a sign to keep on keeping on. I walked out onto my porch and this beautiful creature greeted me . . . . Katy

I’m pretty sure Katy’s beautiful creature is a praying mantis, one of the bugs the Michigan Department of Agriculture calls a “Good Bug.” The MDA says, “The praying mantis is a beneficial bug because it has a healthy appetite for bugs that damage crops . . . . It is a fierce hunter, and can eat much more than it weighs each day. Using its two front legs, the mantis will attack bees, beetles, spiders and even mice, lizards and small birds. They bite the back of their victims’ necks to paralyze them. Mantis nymphs, or young mantises, eat leafhoppers, aphids and small flies.” Between attack flies and fierce praying mantises, Katy’s farming operation sounds a lot more adventurous than you might have guessed, eh? Here’s another view of her visitor: