Futterfies

(The title of the post is what Gabe called our little pets)

At the beginning of the school year, I noticed an email from Groupon for a place called Insect Lore where you could order a butterfly garden for half price. I had been wanting to do some fun 

 projects with Amalie for our "school" time, so I bought it.  We ordered our caterpillars in March, since the weather was so nice and it was so weird (and cool!) that they just shipped live caterpillars to us.  They were so tiny!  I wasn't sure this whole thing was going to work out, but the best part was, they came in a self contained jar, and opening it was advised against, since they had everything they needed inside.  We watched them grow and grow and grow, everyday to many times their original size.  I think I was just as fascinated as Amalie, if not more. 

I would stop and watch as they climbed up the wall of the jar, their many legs, inching along.  It was fascinating and kind of weird too.  (The kids insisted we take it out of the dining room when they were eating.  Don't blame em'!)

But the best part was when they started hanging upside down.  I'd always thought that caterpillars spun some sort of webbed cocoon around themselves, but they didn't.  They just hung there and the next day, they just looked like some kind of hardened shell had been poured over them.  We were supposed to move them to the butterfly garden, so they would have room to open their wings when they emerged.  I kind of put it off for a few days, wanting Brad's help.  So, right before we were going to the grocery store, I asked Brad.  

"Now?" he asked.

"It'll only take 5 minutes, max," I insisted. 

"I don't think so," Brad said, but being the darling he is, he went along with it anyway.  

The company puts a paper lid under the plastic lid and you're supposed to take off the paper lid, which the chrysalids are attached to and safety pin it inside the butterfly garden container.  So . . . neither of us wanted to touch the caterpillars, so we tried doing the safety pin through the plastic lid.  Not going to happen.  So, we brace ourselves to take off the lid, and take the paper off the plastic lid.  

Only to find that those darn caterpillars had eaten half of the paper off, so when I went to take the paper off, they swung down towards me, and I kind of got grossed out and let out a little yelp.  And Brad didn't want to touch them either, but he was at least brave enough to try to safety pin the half eaten paper to the butterfly garden container, while I held the paper in place.  And then the chrysalids start shaking, and I am freaking out that Brad put the pin through one of the chrysalids.  Because it is full on quaking and Brad and I both freak out that we "broke" them or woke them up too early and so I just drop them at the bottom of the container, and let out a shiver. 

It was seriously freaky after they'd been still as statues for four or five days.  We went to the store, praying that our little caterpillars would still complete their transformation and that we hadn't harmed them. 

Luckily we hadn't.  They came out one by one.  We never actually got to see them break out, it always seemed to happen during the night or when we were gone.  But it was still sooooo cool!

 

I was getting anxious to set them free, since they only have a life span of about two weeks, and and so impatiently, I did it alone with Amalie, only to find out later that Brad and Noah really wanted to release them with us.  So sorry!  Four of them quickly flew up, up and away and out of sight.  But the fifth, landed nearby and I snapped a few pics before he too flew away.  It blows my mind how a crazy little freaky caterpillar can turn into this.  Miraculous.