We opened the shipping package to find about 10 very hungry caterpillars actively exploring two sealed plastic jars. Norah and Justin could barely wait for us to read the instructions and figure out what we were supposed to do. The kids were especially excited because they love the book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar."
We put the jars on a low shelf by the fireplace where the kids could easily watch them whenever they wanted, and instructed them to never ever touch them since they are delicate, which is easier said than done. We checked on them together every evening, but the kids checked on them several times daily, and before too long the caterpillars began constructing their cocoons and eventually disappeared. This period drove the kids nuts.
The instructions gave very accurate information about when to expect the butterflies to emerge, but somewhere along the line we forgot. Thinking we had another couple days, it came as quite a shock when the kids looked up at the shelf and shrilly shrieked "The butterflies are coming out!" We had to quickly re-read the instructions so we could move them out of the jars and pin their cocoons onto their new enclosure before they emerged and flew around our house.
We all watched intently as the first butterfly stretched its wings for the first time, then something unexpected happened. Justin's enthusiasm got the better of him and he accidentally bumped the butterfly garden, knocking a group of cocoons off and to the bottom of the enclosure. The next surprise was the discovery that not only do butterflies not like it when somebody messes with their cocoons, they get hostile about it. The cocoons shook violently for several minutes, which we found out is a natural self defense mechanism intended to scare predators.
Several butterflies emerged as we watched them before bedtime, and the stragglers emerged before morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment