THERMOPOLIS — Kids here know that if they catch an interesting insect or reptile, bring it to Kathy Sorensen for a photo opportunity.

Hoyt Peil, a local 4-H kid, caught a white praying mantis at the Wyoming State Fair in Douglas, which he made sure to feed and keep safe. He couldn’t wait to take it to Sorensen, who received the little creature with enthusiasm.

“I stand for everything people hate,” Sorensen said. “I like snakes, bugs and I love skunks. Skunks are helpful and will eat anything. They will eat a mouse if they can get their hands on one.

She is known for taking in wild animals like baby raccoons in need of family care and has had a few pet skunks over the years.

She pays close attention to the details of the small creatures that frolic around her in nature, whether it’s a cats-faced spider or a cinnamon-colored skunk.

Recently, she was sitting at a picnic table at Hot Springs National Park in Thermopolis when one of these creatures caught her eye.

Sorensen took his Canon camera out of its case, putting on a lens almost absently.

As if knowing he would get the attention he deserved, a squirrel scampered down a nearby cottonwood tree and stretched out full length a few feet away, staring at Sorenson with its big eyes.

Sorensen stared back, then the squirrel, unfazed, fixed his attention on Frankie, a small dog mixed with Maltese, Yorkshire and mini-goldendoodle. After taking a few photos, Sorenson put down his camera and smiled.

“I’m convinced the squirrel is trying to get my dog ​​to chase it,” she said. “They can be funny creatures.”

Praying mantis

The praying mantis that Peil caught was just one of the latest scary things to catch Sorensen’s attention.

She was excited to organize a photoshoot, but before she could plan it, her collection of praying mantises began to grow.

“One of them was in my husband’s office,” she said. “There’s a hole in his window, and it was on his desk and he asked me what he should do with it. And I said, ‘You should put it very carefully in a container and bring it to me.’

“And he asked, ‘Why carefully?’ I said, ‘They’re going to bite you and it’s going to hurt.’

She warns that the praying mantis can bite and should be handled with care.

“They will consume a whole grasshopper,” she said. “They don’t leave any pieces. They will eat through the exoskeleton, just like an ear of corn. It’s the most fun thing to watch.

Once word of the insects’ presence spread, Sorenson began receiving stories about them from other people who had never noticed them before.

“It’s funny, isn’t it?” she said. “A guy was heading to Lysite Mountain and found one that was pure white. So weird. Most of those we find now are not from America.

“There are only a handful of praying mantises native to the United States, and only a few of them are found in Wyoming. We don’t usually see them because they are smaller.

By the time Sorensen was ready to take photos of her praying mantis, she had three.

“I’m pretty sure both females were Chinese,” she said. “The European praying mantis was introduced in the 1800s, so they are sort of naturalized. The Chinese are the biggest, and they are the ones they consider very invasive, because not only do they eat your bugs, but in some places they get big enough to eat snakes, hummingbirds, and frogs.

Many Wyoming praying mantises were introduced by gardeners who thought they would help eliminate insects naturally.

Unfortunately, these non-native praying mantises also eat the good bugs.

Passion for photos

Sorenson explains his hobby in a few words.

“I like taking photos of insects,” she says. “Most people go there, ick, but I just think they’re cool.” I can find lots of spiders and bees, because who doesn’t love a good bee? However, I don’t do grasshoppers.

To take photos of the praying mantis and capture the details that fascinate it, Sorenson placed them in a photo box with freshly picked flowers.

“It seemed pretty manageable because I thought they would stay on the flower,” Sorensen said, describing the highly anticipated photo shoot. “Both females did this because they are really too heavy to fly as adults and their wings don’t carry them very far.

“The male, on the other hand, flew a lot. It’s very alarming to see one fall in your face.

For now, the creature photo shoots Sorensen does are a hobby she enjoys as she continues her crusade to protect the often misjudged creatures around us.

Defend the misunderstood

“I think insects are underappreciated,” she said. “They do so much for us. They pollinate and provide a food source for many other animals. If we don’t have bugs, we don’t have an ecosystem. There is no fishery without these aquatic insects.

She recognizes that not everyone will find the same enthusiasm for insects and reptiles as she does. They have their own passions but for Sorensen, it’s these little creatures that most people avoid and that she will continue to seek out.

Contact Jackie Dorothy at [email protected]

Jackie Dorothy can be reached at [email protected].