For Hannah's birthday, she got a butterfly habitat. It might sound sort of funny but she is really into bugs and has spent a large part of the spring out in the yard searching for ladybugs and rolly pollys. This is the story of our butterfly adventure.
So, when you buy a butterfly habitat you have to send away for the caterpillars...
(Kind of funny to get a cup of bugs in the mail... )
Once you have them, you will notice there is a bunch of yellow crumbly stuff in the cup and you ask your Husband what the yellow stuff does. Once you realize it is some sort of food, you kind of move past the gross-ness and leave the caterpiallars in their cup a few days and wait for them to form their chrysalis'.
When the chrysalis' form you scramble to find the directions again to see what in the world to do with them. The directions say to "Transfer them to the habitat so that they are hanging in a natural position."
You then decide to get creative and move the six hanging chrysalis' into the habitat and secure them with masking tape because there is no other way to make something hang in a natural position on the top of a net/mesh structure, at least no way that you can think of...
When you move the chrysalis', they start to sway on their own. It will sort of freak you out a bit, but you press on.
Once they are (kinda-sorta) secure in their habitat you realize that your REALLY made them mad and you watch them rock back and forth violently in protest for a few hours. You will say a little prayer in hopes that they don't shake themselves loose and fall to the floor of the habitat. Simultaneously, you are wondering how in the world they haven't fallen off already and marvel at God's handywork.
Finally, they settle down and just hang there for about a week.
Pretty soon they start to emerge. Initally, they are an ugly gray color and you will feel a little let down because you were expecting a pretty orange/pink color.
You will then notice a redish ink coming from them, coloring their wings the orangeish-pinkish color you were promised. This makes you happy, but again was pretty gross.
Once they have all emerged, you realize that you were supposed to provide them with some sort of food.
Again, scrambling for the directions leads you to a vague suggestion: sugar water and a paper towel.
You create a solution of sugar and water and enlist the only male in the house to open the habitat to add the cup of solution. You cringe and don't look because you don't want the butterflies to escape. None try to escape and you will breathe a sigh of relief.
After another few days, you realize that your butterfly adventure is over and the humane thing to do is set them free.
You wait for it to be daylight, not raining, and not windy outside and you open the habitat. The butterflies fly away and you are again left with an empty butterfly habitat....
...until you decide to send away for more caterpillars.
1 comment:
It almost sounded like you were starting a story like, "When you give a mouse a cookie." "When you buy a butterfly habitat..." :) That would be a fun play on the story wouldn't it?
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