{"id":4612,"date":"2025-10-11T10:13:18","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T14:13:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mdyetmetaphor.com\/blog2\/?p=4612"},"modified":"2025-10-11T10:13:18","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T14:13:18","slug":"trench-warfare-in-the-grass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/mdyetmetaphor.com\/blog2\/2025\/10\/11\/trench-warfare-in-the-grass\/","title":{"rendered":"Trench Warfare in the Grass"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hmmm, what parallel can we draw from the battle of size and tensile strength in the grass?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a nature hike a few weeks ago, I observed the characteristic whitish flutter-flight of a Mantis. I made my way to the spot where the European Mantis<\/em> landed and discovered that it was caught in the web of a Banded Garden Spider. <\/em>For reference, a European Mantis<\/em> can reach 3.5 inches in size while a Banded Garden Spider<\/em> maxes out at one inch. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The spider scurried across its web to attack the trapped prey. But it stopped and backed away when it saw the size of the insect caught in its web. I observed the encounter play out for a minute or two as the Mantis struggled to free itself and the Spider observed from a safe distance. I imagined a verbal exchange between them something like the following.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mantis<\/strong>: Damn! Caught in a spider web. Should have scoped out this spot before I landed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spider<\/strong>: Lunch!… Crap, that\u2019s a Mantis. It could easily eat me. Better back off and think about my plan of attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mantis<\/strong>: I see you, spider. Don\u2019t get any ideas. I am the apex insect predator in this area. I\u2019ll take you out in a heartbeat!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spider<\/strong>: But you\u2019re caught in my web. You\u2019re completely helpless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mantis<\/strong>: Helpless? Don\u2019t flatter yourself. I\u2019m three times your size.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spider<\/strong>: I have venom that will paralyze you. All I need is one bite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mantis<\/strong>: Come at me and see what happens. I\u2019ll bite your head off with one chomp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spider:<\/strong> I\u2019m patient. I\u2019ll just wait here until you wear yourself out struggling to get free. Then I\u2019ll take you down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mantis:<\/strong> You think your puny web can hold me?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spider:<\/strong> My web is incredibly tough and elastic. It has a higher strength-to-wait ratio than steel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mantis:<\/strong> Oh yeah? Well I can lift 1.5 times my body weight. Think about that, tough guy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I moved on to continue my hike while the stand-off played out. As I look back on it now, I wonder whether size or tensile strength ultimately prevailed – and how we can take a lesson from that for own lives. I’ll leave that to you to decide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

~  <\/em>Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage \u2013 Stories by Michael Robert Dyet<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills \u2013 An Internet-enhanced Novel (now out of print) which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael\u2019s website at <\/em>www.mdyetmetaphor.com<\/em><\/a> .<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

~ Subscribe to <\/em>Michael\u2019s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its\u2019 internet home <\/em><\/strong>www.mdyetmetaphor.com\/blog2<\/em><\/a>. <\/em><\/strong>Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. <\/em>If you\u2019re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Observing the encounter between a European Mantis and a Banded Garden Spider and drawing a parallel to Donald Trump. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,3],"tags":[2250,1153,2139,18,50],"class_list":["post-4612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-metaphors-of-life","category-winds-of-change","tag-banded-garden-spider","tag-donald-trump","tag-european-mantis","tag-metaphor","tag-michael-robert-dyet"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/mdyetmetaphor.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/mdyetmetaphor.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/mdyetmetaphor.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mdyetmetaphor.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mdyetmetaphor.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4612"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/mdyetmetaphor.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4612\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4630,"href":"http:\/\/mdyetmetaphor.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4612\/revisions\/4630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/mdyetmetaphor.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mdyetmetaphor.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mdyetmetaphor.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}