Found one of these (walking sticks) on my front porch today. No, not the
type that you use as a cane, but the insect - a good 8 inches long. I
flicked it off into the bushes (with a broom!). He really didn't resist
much - really, not at all. Let me flip him on his back even, I wonder if he
was close to dead? Or do they "play possum?"

Pic of the beast in question can be found he
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/raven_...cd.jpg&.src=ph

My father tells the story about when he was cleaning up some brush around
the garage into a box and somehow picked up a "nest" of them. Apparently
they were reaaaallly mad and went after him. I'm pretty sure I was there -
I seem to remember him defending himself with a shovel while one of them
literally went after it, hitting it repeatedly with the end of it's abdomen,
curled up like a scorpion.

A search online doesn't reveal much. So how dangerous are these creatures?
Anyone have any stories? Do I need to be nervous in the garden now?

TIA,
Julie