Wyoming’s Critter Lady loves all those creepy crawlies that others hate

THERMOPOLIS — The kids here know that if they catch an interesting insect or reptile, they should bring it to Kathy Sorensen for a photo shoot.

Local 4-H boy Hoyt Peil caught a white praying mantis at the Wyoming State Fair in Douglas, which he made sure to feed and keep safe. He could hardly wait to take it to Sorensen, who received the little creature with enthusiasm.

“I’m a supporter of everything that people hate,” Sorensen said. “I like snakes, insects and I really like a skunk. Skunks are useful and will eat anything. They will eat a mouse if they can get it.”

She has been known to take in wild animals such as baby raccoons in need of foster care, and has had a few pet skunks over the years.

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

Recently, she was sitting at a picnic table at Hot Springs State Park in Thermopolis when such a creature caught her attention.

Sorensen took her Canon camera out of the bag and almost absentmindedly put on a lens.

As if knowing he would get the attention he deserved, a squirrel ran past a nearby cottonwood tree and stretched out just a few feet away, staring at Sorenson with its wide eyes.

Sorensen looked back, and then the squirrel, unfazed, turned his attention to Frankie, a small mutt mixed with Maltese, Yorkie and mini goldendoodle. After taking a few photos, Sorenson put down her 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 mantises

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

She was excited to organize a photo shoot, but before she could plan it, her praying mantis collection started to grow.

“One 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 to do with it. And I said, ‘You have to put it very carefully in a container and bring it to me.’

“And he asked, ‘Why carefully?’ I said, ‘They will bite you and it will hurt.’

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

“They’ll eat a whole locust,” she said. “They don’t leave bits and pieces behind. They eat through the exoskeleton, just like a corn cob. It’s the funniest thing to watch.”

As word spread that these insects were there, Sorenson started getting stories about them from others who had never noticed them before.

“It’s funny, isn’t it?” she said. “A man was heading towards Lysite Mountain and found a pure white one. So weird. Most of the ones we find now are not from America.

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

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

“I’m pretty sure the two females were Chinese,” she said. ‘The European praying mantis was introduced in the 19th century, so they’ve naturalized a bit. The Chinese are the really big ones, and those are the ones they consider highly invasive, because not only do they eat your insects, but in some places they grow big enough to eat snakes, hummingbirds and frogs.

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

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

Passion for photos

Sorenson explains her hobby in just a few words.

“I like taking pictures of insects,” she said. “Most people go, ick, but I just think they’re cool. I can find lots of spiders and bees, because who doesn’t love a good bee? But 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 feasible because I thought they would stay on the flower,” said Sorensen, describing the highly anticipated photo shoot. “The two females did that because by the time they are adults they are really too heavy to fly and their wings cannot carry them far.

“However, the male flew a lot. It’s very alarming when someone comes right up to your face.’

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

Defending the misunderstood

“I think bugs are underappreciated,” she says. “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 water bugs.”

She acknowledges that not everyone will be as enthusiastic about insects and reptiles as she is. They have their own passions, but for Sorensen, it’s these little critters that most people avoid and the ones she will continue to seek out.

Contact Jackie Dorothy at [email protected]

Jackie Dorothy can be reached at [email protected].