We generally dress in our oldest, dull-coloured clothes to go on nature trails, because many creatures are sensitive to bright colours, and vanish as soon they see such colours moving around. In Nature, blending in with one’s surroundings is often the key to survival…what stands out is often what’s eaten, and also what could be dangerous.

But there are creatures who manage to blend beautifully into their surroundings, and yet remain very colourful!

The

PRAYING MANTIS

that we found on Saturday at the Valley School was a prime example:

It was quite tough to see the Mantis at first, but we all soon gathered around to take some macro shots:

Karthik pointed this beauty out to us... The mantes can move lightning-fast when they sight prey, and yet remain as immobile as a statue otherwise! I could not resist taking several shots: Here's a short video of it moving those "prayerful" front limbs!

This was just one of the many colourful sightings we had in Valley School:

You can see the photos of our trip on my Facebook page, if you

click here

When there are so many interesting things to be seen with Life Under Foot, why run behind stripes and spots alone?