Taken in by a stick insect.

Good grief, niece U & your varmints.. I never heard of them. Guess we don't have them hear, thank heavens. Do they bite or sting? I don't know that i have ver come across something i didn't know what it was & hope i don't, lol. U be careful.

Hello, Thea. I haven't, but this reminded me of an incident with my aunt many years ago. She looked out of the kitchen window and saw what appeared to be an enormous spider. At the time, there was a lot of stuff in the paper about poisonous spiders coming in with bananas. She went to the back step, lifted the lid from the dustbin, and launched it at the spider. More by luck than anything else, it covered the offending arachnid. When my uncle came home from work, she was almost hysterical, having stood at the kitchen window all afternoon in case the spider escaped. My uncle asked how big the spider was, and she shaped a body of about 3 inches diameter and legs about 8 inches long. My incredulous uncle said if the spider was that big, it wouldn't have stayed there quietly all afternoon without at least rattling the dustbin lid. Armed with a broom handle just in case, he gingerly lifted the lid - and burst out laughing. The 'spider' was half an old tennis ball, blackened by rain and soil, perched on a pile of 4 twigs which were coincidentally shaped like spider's legs. We never got to the bottom of it, but we think it was probably one of the local children playing a joke on my aunt.

stick bugs are pretty cool. we don't have anything like that around here-i wish we did. um..i hadn't really come across anything i'd mistaken for something else-but i did have the problem in arizona where i didn't know half the bugs i was looking at-and with spiders,that can be dangerous there.

That's definitely a stick insect, Thea.. they do have this long legs that last forever lol.. actually insects happen to crawl on our hands and arms can be very ticklish and sometimes the bite of an ant can be more painful than them crawling. But because they have different structures and looks, it can be quite an adventurous feat. Like some mentioned the praying mantis. Ah... unique. But some kids are still frightened by them.

Only humans. I've met quite a few humans (usually men) who seem to be one thing but are, in reality, something completely different. Hmmm, well, actually, I was standing on my deck once and heard a buzzing sound near my ear that I thought was a cicada (or large, mutant mosquito) and it turned out to be a hummingbird. I have a hummingbird feeder attached to my deck and have learned that those adorable little birds will "buzz" you if you get too close to their food, like a warning to stay away. Stupid things don't seem to realize that they wouldn't have that food if it weren't for me.

Hi thea..We have walking sticks here. my kids also use to capture them to inspect and study them for a day, but they always turned them loose before they went to bed. While I find them interesting they still aren't the kind of thing I want to encounter free ranging in my house somewhere. Last summer while working in my flower beds, I reached behind myself to grab what I was sure was my garden hose. When it started wiggling around in my hand is when I realized what I thought was my hose was a large snake. I don't know if he was deliberatly disguising himself or not I let go of him so quickly I never had a chance to ask him!

Oh yes many a time lol And it is very scary specially when you are distracted In my Case it was a Spider and I do not like Spiders at all it was a tiny one but I thought it was a bit of Dirt that Gissi had brought in I picked it up on the Phone to my Son at the time, well I nearly deafened him lol because I screamed so loud when it started to move and run over my Hand Well I will not repeat the words my Son used because of nearly deafened lol

Hi Thea. I think your stick insect is what we call a Praying Mantis. We have loads of them here: fearsome looking, but harmless, except that their legs can be prickly to touch - though I haven't actually touched them, so can't verify that. I'm sure I've come across things I was mistaken about, but can't recall any at the moment. On the other hand, years ago I bought an Hibiscus plant, a large Cuban variety, according to the ticket. The leaves didn't look at all Hibiscus-like and I queried it but was assured it was as ticketed. A few months after planting I was convinced it was NOT an Hibiscus, but a few months later it started blooming and I was rewarded with large salmon Hibiscus with a deep cerise centres.

I came across a stick insect at a rest stop in Nevada a few years ago. I had read about them, maybe seen them in the zoo, but never in real life. I thought they were an Asian thing, actually. It was pretty cool. Got a picture somewhere, but not that I can get to on this computer. I did come across a person that I disliked at first sight, thought he was an arrogant a**, ended up being a good friend. Does that count?

Hi Thea...ack! Yes, we have stick insects, and I have seen them a number of times...some green, some brown. They do indeed look like a twig, and be careful, since they will bite, and some are poisonous, though not deadly so. Karen

LOL, there are an awful lot of them here in the South of the USA but as long as they stay outside, they live. Very simple rule but some just have to try and break em and they pay the ultimate price...EXCEPT for Lady Bugs, I have a soft spot for them!! No idea why...but I escort them outside and tell them to stay out!!

They are very odd little creatures but can grow large like the one you had. I remember vividly the first and only time I saw one in real life. I was outside and on a cell phone chatting, the Sun was in my eyes so I looked down and saw a stick near my foot, didn't think much of it. Till a moment of so later I looked down again and saw that the stick was farther away. I hadn't moved so it must have...And thought that was very strange. So I bent down to look at it closer, just like you did. And wonder of all wonders, saw the short little legs and it was on the move but in rather slow motion. Watched it for the rest of my call and then left it to continue it's journey!

...Hi thea, I have never heard of such a creature, but there are a lot of insects that are unknown to me. But I do say that you are a brave one to touch it with your foot, shoe whatever. Eight inches long with tentacles, if it ran your way, if it had been alive, would you have stepped on it. That's scary. The thing could have hung on to your foot or something. It sounds like a skinny, skinny greco or something. Take care. Run for a can of insect spray the next timne :o).

I've seen pictures of those while I was growing up. As kids, we had the (dis)pleasure of having a complete set of Collier's Encyclopedia at home, all 24 books. When we weren't using these books as covers and foxholes for imaginary battles we waged inside our house, we actually looked at the pretty pictures inside. And these stick insects were a few that fascinated me and my brother.

As soon as you started descibing it, I thought it was a stick insect. They are quite interesting and some people here keep them as pets. Yes, I have come across "things" I thought was somethinmg else... the inner tube I thought was a snake... the rubber spider I thought was real.. causing a huge reaction on my part. And I put the rubber spider in the bin after.

Not really.....we pretty much have the same bugs every year and they are easy to idenify....same old flies, misquitoes.....fireflies....beetles..etc.

I forget what they call those. I want to say preying mantis but I'm not sure. I don't know if they are harmful or not, but they are kind of shocking and scary as they can blend. Their intriguing none the less.

Oh yeah. I was about to kick a big, black stick that was in my yard...when it moved and slithered into the canal. It was a big, black snake!

We call those Praying Mantis. They are interesting little creatures who depend on their ability to camouflage themselves to their surroundings. My husband came across a huge one a few years ago and it hung around the garage for ages, so much so that my husband decided to call him ‘Harry’ (LOL)! They are kind of cute, I guess, my hubby thought it was a stick at first...

I've actually done that before... I don't do it anymore. lol It really frightened me, I'm afraid of buds, which you'd think would make me more conscious of picking stuff up off the floors. I actually did think about it before I reached down, but it really looked like a piece of hair. I'd done it lots of times before that and gotten away with it - very bad habit to gelol Those stick things would cause me to have a serious fear of all sticks in general. lol