Giant Grasshoppers

When I first came to Italy, I expected so many things to be different, like insects for instance. You always hear about exotic animals from all around the world, but insects seem to be the same everywhere. A fly is a fly. The grasshoppers are a different story here. They are not grasshoppers. They are giant, leaping, flying, freak you right out type of grasshopper. Back home they were about 1-2 inches big; here they are about 4-5 inches. Today I had one of those embarrassing moments that I wish no one would have seen. My husband and I were out walking the dog and he had been chasing after the tiny lizards that had been out sunning themselves. He was having great fun but no luck. As we came towards the end of our walk, Yuma (my dog) found a stick like object and decided to pounce on it. To his surprise, these wings opened and it tried to get away. He jumped back and got a little freaked out. I came over to investigate, as my dog doesn't usually shy away from insects and this thing (which I too thought was a stick) flew towards me. I let out a brief but load shriek that turned everyone's heads to look at me. I covered my mouth after I realized that I had let it fly open and tried to walk away without freaking out more because there seemed to be a small colony of them in that corner. Then an older gentleman pointed out that they don't bite. That didn't make me feel any better. I was still embarrassed for letting out a scream in broad daylight for no reason. I had to laugh it off.