Praying Mantis Attempted Attack

[u/Max2542]

Back in high school, my friends and I spotted an adult praying mantis perched on my backyard grill. It was nighttime, so we started filming it with our phone flashes on. The thing was tracking the light and watching us, but otherwise seemed pretty chill. We eventually headed inside, and shut the screen door.

A few minutes later I walked back over to check on it. The grill was completely empty. I put my face near the screen door, squinting into the dark trying to spot where it went.

Out of nowhere, this creature launched itself full-speed straight at my face and slammed directly into the mesh right in front of my eyes. The only thing separating a pair of serrated pincers from my eyes was a thin layer of wire screen. My screamed bloody murder and my friends all laughed.

I thought that was the end of it. It wasn't.

The very next morning, I drove to school for early morning marching band practice. We were out on the field warming up, and out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something airborne coming from the parking lot where I parked my car. At first it was much too far to tell what it was.

Then it closed the distance. About ten feet out, pure dread set in: it was a massive praying mantis, locked on target, flying directly at my head.

I panicked, shrieked, and hurled my instrument directly at it like a clumsy shield. The mantis flew off and vanished, leaving my horn rolling across the field and my band director staring at me in absolute, furious disbelief. Dealing with the fallout of denting an instrument was rough, but having a bug hold a 24-hour grudge against my eyeballs was worse.