For Max's birthday, Ninang(Elyse) gave him a butterfly kit. It came with 10 caterpillars that we watched grow. The started out as teeny tiny catterpillars (you can see how small they are in the cups in the first two photos of the album, link is below), and grew so much bigger! Then they formed chrysalises. What was freaky about the chrsyalises is that, when they were still soft, they would start wiggling violently if they were disturbed (check out the video of this in the album)! This is a defense mechanism to keep from being eaten. The chrysalises hardened, and then emerged nine beautiful Painted Lady butterflies! Yesterday morning we tried to set them free, but it was a bit cold and they wouldn't leave, even with some gentle habitat shaking and nudging. So this morning we tried again and we managed to set them free. And by set them free, I mean we evicted them! We opened up the habitat and they just sat there and wouldn't budge again, so Adrian had to go in with a twig and physically take them out. There is a video near the end of the album of the "setting free" process. The kids had a fantastic time having the butterflies sit on their fingers and putting them on a tree in our driveway. Thanks for the interactive science birthday present, Ninang!
That's one of the most beautiful gifts V&M could ever have. To see up close how butterflies are created is one of Nature's greatest wonders. I love the look on their faces. Thanks so much for capturing these precious moments. It means a lot.
ReplyDelete