THERMOPOLIS — The kids here know that if they catch an interesting bug or reptile, bring it to Kathy Sorensen for a photo shoot.
Local 4-H kid Hoyt Peil caught a white praying mantis during the Wyoming State Fair in Douglas which he made sure to feed and keep safe. He could hardly wait to bring it to Sorensen, who received the little critter with enthusiasm.
“I'm an advocate for all the things that people hate,” Sorensen said. “I like snakes, bugs and I do love a skunk. Skunks are useful and will eat anything. They'll eat a mouse if they can get their hands on it.”
She has been known to take in wild animals like baby raccoons in need of foster care and has had a couple of pet skunks over the years.
She pays close attention to the details of the smaller creatures romping about her in nature, whether it’s a cat-faced spider or cinnamon colored skunk.
Recently she was sitting at a picnic table at the Hot Springs State Park in Thermopolis when one such critter caught her notice.
Sorensen slid her Canon camera out of its case, putting on a lens almost absently.
As if knowing that it would receive the attention it deserved, a squirrel scampered down a nearby cottonwood tree and stretched out full-length just feet away, staring at Sorenson with its large eyes.
Sorensen returned the stare, and then the squirrel, unfazed, fixed its attention on Frankie, a small mutt mixed with Maltese, Yorkie and mini-goldendoodle. After taking a few photos, Sorenson set her camera down and smiled.
“I’m convinced that squirrel is trying to bait my dog into chasing it,” she said. “They can be funny creatures.”
Praying Mantis
The praying mantis that Peil caught was just one of the latest creepy-crawly thing to capture Sorensen’s attention.
She was excited to set up a photo shoot, but before she could plan it out, her praying mantis collection started to grow.
“One of them was in my husband's office,” she said. “There's a gap in his window, and it was on his desk and he asked me what he should do with it. And I said, ‘You should very carefully put it in a container and bring it to me.’
“And he asked, ‘Why carefully?’ I said, ‘They will bite you and it will hurt.’”
She cautions that the praying mantis can bite and should be handled carefully.
“They will consume an entire grasshopper,” she said. “They don't leave bits and pieces. They will eat through the exoskeleton, just like a corn on the cob. It is the funnest thing to watch.”
Once word spread that these insects were around, Sorenson started getting stories about them from others who had never noticed them before.
“It is funny, isn't it?” she said. “One guy was up toward Lysite Mountain and found a pure white one. So weird. Most of the ones we're finding right now are not native to America.
“There's only a handful of praying mantises that are native to the United States, and only a few of those range into Wyoming. We generally don't see those because they're smaller.”
By the time Sorensen was ready to take pictures of her praying mantis, she had three.
“I'm pretty sure the two female were Chinese,” she said “The European praying mantis was introduced in the 1800s, so they're kind of naturalized. The Chinese ones are the really big ones, and those are the ones that they are considering very invasive, because not only will they eat your bugs, in some places, they get big enough to eat snakes, hummingbirds and frogs.”
Many of the praying mantis in Wyoming were introduced by gardeners who thought they would help eliminate bugs naturally.
Unfortunately, these non-native praying mantis bugs also eat the good insects.
Kathy Sorensen caught this cat face spider, a common orb weaver species. (Courtesy Kathy Sorensen) 
When Kathy Sorensen was on a road trip with her mom, she spotted this rattlesnake and jumped out with her camera. Her mom thought she was crazy when Sorenson was excited to see if she could get it in a strike pose. (Courtesy Kathy Sorensen) 
A candid close-up of a Wyoming bumble bee. (Courtesy Kathy Sorensen) 
Kathy Sorensen adores skunks and has had several as pets over the years. This one is posing on the boardwalk at the Hot Springs State Park terraces in Thermopolis. (Courtesy Kathy Sorensen) 
Left: Peeking from beneath this cut flower, the female Chinese Praying Mantis is fond of eating grasshoppers and has been doing her part in the recent grasshopper invasion. Right: An unidentified member of the orb weaver spider family. (Courtesy Kathy Sorensen) 
A passing lizard becomes the perfect candidate for Kathy Sorensen’s camera. (Courtesy Kathy Sorensen) 
Although they can bite, the jumping spider bite is not poisonous, so they are not considered dangerous. Kathy Sorensen still stresses that you should take care in handling anything that can bite, sting or otherwise hurt you. (Courtesy Kathy Sorensen) 
The female praying mantis can be vicious to the smaller males and have been known to rip off the male’s head after mating. (Courtesy Kathy Sorensen) 
The European Praying Mantis can be identified by its green shade and the white mark on its forearm. (Courtesy Kathy Sorensen) 
Although the Chinese mantis is non-native to the US, it has not been classified as invasive. It has been living as a naturalized insect for well over a century. (Courtesy Kathy Sorensen) 
This Chinese Mantis is too heavy to fly and has a lifespan of up to 18 months. (Courtesy Kathy Sorensen)
Passion For Photos
Sorenson explains her hobby in just a few words.
“I like taking pictures of bugs,” she said. “Most people go, ick, but I just think they are cool. I can find a lot of spiders, and bees, because who doesn't like a good bee? However, I don't do grasshoppers.”
To take the photos of the praying mantis and capture the details that fascinate her, Sorenson placed them in a photo box with freshly picked flowers.
“That seemed pretty manageable because I thought they would stay on the flower,” Sorensen said, describing the much-anticipated photo shoot. “The two female ones did, because they're really too heavy to fly by the time they reach adulthood and their wings won't carry them very far.
“The male one, however, did a lot of flying. It's very alarming to have one come right at your face.”
For now, the critter photo shoots Sorensen does are a hobby that she enjoys as she continues on her crusade to protect the often-misjudged creatures around us.
Defending The Misunderstood
“I think bugs are underappreciated,” she said. “They do so much for us. They pollinate, they provide a food source for so many other animals. If we don't have bugs, we don't have an ecosystem. You don't have a fishery if you don't have those aquatic bugs.”
She acknowledges that not everyone will find the same enthusiasm with bug and reptiles that she does. They have their own passions but for Sorensen, it is these small critters that most people avoid and the ones she will continue to search out.
Contact Jackie Dorothy at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com
Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.
