How often do you see a walking stick when you’re outside? For myself personally, it’s not very often. I may see one or two every year and that’s if I’m lucky. Walking Sticks blend in with nature by looking like a twig. They’re hard to spot when they’re hanging out on their favorite tree feeding. You really have to be looking for one to find it.
Last month we spotted one on our property. According to what I read online…this one is a female. A female is larger than the male and a slightly different color. Here’s a fun fact for you….did you know that walking sticks have 3 pairs of legs? Yes they do! When resting they pull the front set up along their head which extends the length of their body. In this picture…you can’t see all three sets of legs. Her head is facing downwards in the photograph with the little “circle thing” aka loop being the back-end of her body.
One thing that I found fascinating is that the female drops her eggs at the end of summer onto the forest floor. Those eggs stay there among the leaf litter until May when they hatch. Oh yeah, breading time is usually in late summer during the month of August. Love is in the air! Walking sticks don’t bite and they feed exclusively on tree leaves with certain variety of trees being their preferred meal. Always nice to see things like this out in nature and to learn about them.