So I found this lil dude on a picnic table in the park..

@cherokeepatti he seemed pretty skittish. I think the flash freaked him out. Never seen a baby one before, though.

@cherokeepatti I wouldn't doubt it. Mantises never stop growing from birth until death, and so the older one gets, the larger it gets. As they grow, they need to hunt and kill increasingly large prey, and the largest of them will sometimes even kill hummingbirds.

@cherokeepatti @BlueMetalChick They wouldn't bother attacking humans, though they will extend out their arms when a finger gets close to nudge the finger away. They like their space.

Also, I've never seen a mantis grow to be longer than quarter of a yardstick; if one grew too large the exoskeleton wouldn't be able to support their weight. Even at that length, they prefer much smaller prey.

Now, there are biped predators out there that would seem far less daunting.

Like for example, the one large hunter starfish that's large enough to wrap around the leg of a biped.