Praying Mantis vs. Hummingbird

[MerryBlooms]

Even though mantises are smaller, they'll still attack hummingbirds. Here's how to keep your backyard bird safe.
By Manon Verchot
Published: 10/08/2014

It’s rare, but it’s gruesome. A praying mantis lurks on a hummingbird feeder, watching carefully as a hummingbird hovers near the sugary water. With one quick motion, the mantis grabs at the hummingbird—and misses.

http://mag.audubon.org/articles/birds/how-save-hummingbirds-murderous-mantids-0

I had no idea.

[Arkansas Granny]

1. True story. Several years ago a friend found a hummingbird lying on the ground

with one wing stuck out at an odd angle and unable to fly. He didn't know what to do with it, so he brought it to me. After many phone calls (this was pre-internet) I was unable to find any facility or individual that rehabbed injured hummingbirds, so I put it in an old birdcage another friend had and tried it myself. I kept it all summer long, but in the fall, when it was time to migrate, it went into a decline, quit eating and died.

Anyway, one thing it really enjoyed was being outside in the sunshine, so I would take the cage out during the day and hang it in a tree and let it preen in the sun and snap at the little gnats that flew into the cage. One day I heard a strange sound coming from the cage (did you know that hummingbirds can screech?), looked in and saw that a praying mantis had the bird down on the bottom of the cage and was gnawing at it's neck. I was able to disengage the mantis and the bird was OK, but I'm convinced that it would have killed and eaten the bird if I hadn't intervened.

After that, I made a net cover for the cage for outdoor use.

[MerryBlooms]

2. Poor little guy. A galiant effort on your part, it must have been heartbreaking

watching him go downhill like that.

Many years ago, my son's cat got into a fight once with a mantis. The cat eventually one, but that mantis just kept coming at her and never backed down. Bizarre to witness, and the mantis made hissing sounds during battle.

[Downwinder]

3. Get a praying mantis drunk and they will attack anything

and everything.