Mantises are definitely interesting little buggers. I was absolutely captivated by the one I found. I'm a little disapointed that I never see them.
Actually, I'm kind of disappointed that all of the really cool bugs seem to be gone from the area. When I was a kid (just 11 or 12 years ago- not even really all that long), we used to have the coolest bugs at my house. Every summer, we would see tons of big swallowtail butterflies, their big, green caterpillers, lots of walking stick bugs and some really cool silkmoths. And it seemed like they all just disappeared one year. No more butterflies, moths, caterpillars, or anything. So disappointing.