I love your post. Praying Manitis' are awesome. I think of them as tiny, defenseless creatures praying to their god. You must be like me. Every creature I encounter inside, our outside of my house, I try to save. That includes spiders, flies, ants, mice, etc. I will not kill them. They are not hurting me; they just took a wrong turn. The latest rescue was a magnificent dragon fly in my dot's sun room. TIP to all. To catch creatures that shouldn't be where they should be for safety sake, use a Tupperware container upside down, and slide a junk mail stiff paper that is the right size under it, and let them out. Works every time.
I do want to let y'all know that skinks are toxic to cats, and maybe dogs, too. Specifically, the blue tail that is prevalent in SoMD. If they get in your house and your cat catches them, it is not good. It is hard to decide who lives or dies. We have, actually, ignored copperheads if they leave the property. Never had a copperhead bite of any kind while living in Calvert for 20 years. But, is suspected by my long time vet that my Graycee cat died at 21 because she got a skink. Just putting it out there.