Icky Insect: the Mighty Mantis

We have a couple of free-standing kennels in the yard, for feeding or temporary containment. This morning I went outside and there were a half dozen dogs gathered around one side of the kennel, trying to get to something inside with their paws. Usually when they do that, it's a big horse lubber grasshopper, sometimes a millipede, and rarely, a rodent. Today it took me a bit to figure out what they were so excited about because it was very small: a baby Mantis, about an inch long. So I took a picture of it and then put it over the fence. The best image turned out to be of it's back, but oh, well. The thing kept leaping at me, it's lucky I didn't let the dogs eat it.