Last year Allie got a butterfly kit for her birthday. We sent away for the caterpillars a few weeks ago and we all had fun watching them eat and eat and get bigger and bigger. Before long, they had formed their chrysalis and were ready to emerge as butterflies.
One of the chrysalis fell from the top and we worried that the butterfly wouldn't survive, but to our surprise, it did. It didn't come away from the incident unscathed though. It had a bent wing and couldn't fly very well. Allie and Lily took it upon themselves to teach it how to fly. They named her Dansa.
That poor butterfly endured 2 days of being bounced on the trampoline, flung off of high places, and countless recaptures. It never learned how to fly. Mike told me he was surprised that PETA allowed this sort of thing. I'd have to agree. We decided that we had our fun and it was time to let them go. Allie kept them one more day. She said that she wanted to make sure they remembered her face. I figured her hands would be hard to forget. As far as the 4 healthy butterflies knew, they'd see that hand and pretty soon Dansa would leave for a time only to come back battered, dazed, and confused with strange tales of things that bounce and hard concrete. I think they lived in fear of the day they'd be chosen. They got lucky and had freedom at last.
I think it was hard for her to let them go...she caught one again for a last goodbye.
It was a fun thing for all of us (except Dansa). I think we'll try ants next. I have a friend who did lady bugs too. That sounds fun. We'll never have pets, so this counts right?
1 comment:
Hmm, maybe we'll have to try butterflies now. Our ants built some awesome tunnels and then promptly died. All of them. Which is why we don't have pets. You think we'd have better luck with caterpillars?
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