A Walking Stick

No... Not a preying mantis, a walking stick. On our way into the house yesterday afternoon I spoted a walking stick on the recycle bin. I took the girls over to it right away so they could check it out. I haven't seen a walking stick since I was a little girl (probably because they are so good at hiding in trees), although this walking stick was not hiding at all! I am not sure why it decided to rest there but am I ever glad it did! The girls were quite interested in seeing it move so I touched it with a stick and they watched it move it's legs and head around a bit. If I hadn't touched it all we would have seen is a stick!
When Liam arrived home I told him about it and he said "you mean you saw a praying mantid?" I said "NO! A walking stick." I had to show him the picture so he knew what I was talking about. Then when I told my mom about it she said "You mean a preying mantid?" and I said "No, a walking stick!" I am begining to think that we were really lucky to see this walking stick today since no one really knew what we were talking about at first and it is obviously more uncommon to see than a preying mantis! Just for the record... in case you didn't already know, a preying mantid is green and looks like it is preying with it's front legs. A walking stick on the other hand is brown and looks just like a stick with legs!