Woman Finds A Giant 'Stick' Hanging Out On Her Front Door
“After several days, I thought of her as a part of the household” ❤️️
Danni Milovanovic is used to sharing her yard and with a variety of animal guests. Living in Australia, spiders, lizards, snakes, foxes and the occasional kangaroo make frequent visits.
“You get used to it,” Milovanovic told The Dodo. “I only ever worry if there’s a snake where my toddler might be close. Otherwise, it’s quite enjoyable.”
But, recently, Milovanovic came across a unique creature, unlike anything she’d seen before. Opening her door to pick up a package, she came face-to-face with a stick insect larger than her foot.
“[She] gave me a little shock as I have seen a few, maybe a couple in the past few years, but never one of that size,” Milovanovic said. “And never on my front door!”
The stick insect was doing her best impression of a twig, but her massive size and wiggly antennae quickly gave her away. The Walking sticks can be found all over the world — they've evolved to look like the branch of a tree, with little twig legs stemming from their body.
However, the large stick insect on Milovanovic’s front door seemed to have taken a wrong turn, and had no idea how to get home. But despite everything, the bug remained placid and didn’t seem to mind being around people.
“She was on the front door for nearly 12 hours but for her safety — my toddler loves picking up sticks — she had to be relocated,” Milovanovic said.
Milovanovic placed the insect in a nearby rosebush and gave her a little lettuce leaf to nibble on. Each day, Milovanovic checked to see how the stick insect was doing on the rosebush, and when she couldn’t find her, she felt sad.
“After several days, I thought of her as a part of the household,” Milovanovic said.
But the stick bug hadn’t wandered too far, she was just using her natural gift of camouflage.
“I found her on the hedge surrounding the roses,” Milovanovic said. “I have relocated her back to the rosebush as it is the best way for her to feed!”
And it’s clear the stick insect is quite content to spend a little more time hanging out with Milovanovic — as long as she keeps the lettuce coming.
